Bishop Definition

bĭshəp

bishops

noun

A high-ranking Christian cleric, in modern churches usually in charge of a diocese and in some churches regarded as having received the highest ordination in unbroken succession from the apostles.

American Heritage

A high-ranking member of the Christian clergy having authority, variously, over other clergy and usually supervising a diocese or church district.

Webster's New World

A usually miter-shaped chess piece that can move diagonally across any number of unoccupied spaces.

American Heritage

A lay church officer who presides over a ward.

Webster's New World

Mulled port spiced with oranges, sugar, and cloves.

American Heritage

Synonyms:

verb

(now historical) To admit into the church by confirmation; to confirm.

Wiktionary

(obsolete) To make (a horse) seem younger, by cutting its teeth short, then scooping out an oval cavity in the corner nippers and burning it black with a hot iron.

Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Bishop

Noun

Singular:

bishop

Plural:

bishops

Origin of Bishop

From Middle English bishop, from Old English biscop (“bishop”), from Vulgar Latin *biscopus, from Latin episcopus (“overseer, supervisor”), from Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos, “overseer”), from ἐπί (epi, “over”) + σκοπέω (skopeō, “I examine”). Cognate with West Frisian biskop (“bishop”), Dutch bisschop (“bishop”), German Bischof (“bishop”), Swedish biskop (“bishop”), Norwegian biskop (“bishop”), Icelandic biskup (“bishop”), Gothic [script?] (aipiskaupus, “bishop”).

From Wiktionary
Middle English from Old English bisceope from Vulgar Latin ebiscopus from Late Latin episcopus from Late Greek episkopos from Greek overseer epi- epi- skopos watcher spek- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From the surname of the person who first practised it.

From Wiktionary