Pontiff - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

pon·tiff

Audio Help [pon-tif] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	any pontifex.

2.	any high or chief priest.

Ecclesiastical.

a bishop.

b.	the Roman Catholic pope, the Bishop of Rome.

[Origin: 1600–10; earlier pontife < F, short for L pontifex pontifex

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Pontiff

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

pon·tiff Audio Help (pŏn'tĭf) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. The pope.
2. A bishop.
A pontifex.

[French pontife, from Old French pontif, from Latin pontifex, pontifex; see pent- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
pontiff

1610, "high priest," from Fr. pontif (1516), from L. pontifex, title of a Roman high priest (see pontifex). Used for "bishop" in Church Latin, but not recorded in that sense in Eng. until 1677, specifically "the bishop of Rome," the pope. Pontifical, however, is used with this sense from c.1440. Pontificate (v.) "issue dogmatic decrees" is first attested 1825.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

pontiff
noun
the head of the Roman Catholic Church [syn: pope]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
pontiff [ˈpontif] noun

(in the Roman Catholic church) a bishop, especially the Pope

Arabic:	قَداسَة البابا
Chinese (Simplified):	罗马教皇
Chinese (Traditional):	羅馬教皇
Czech:	biskup, papež
Danish:	pave
Dutch:	paus
Estonian:	piiskop
Finnish:	paavi
French:	pontife
German:	der Hohepriester; der Papst
Greek:	ποντίφικας
Hungarian:	Róma püspöke (= a pápa)
Icelandic:	biskup; páfi
Indonesian:	Paus
Italian:	pontefice

Japanese:	教皇
Korean:	주교, 교황
Latvian:	pāvests; bīskaps
Lithuanian:	popiežius, vyskupas
Norwegian:	biskop; pave
Polish:	papież
Portuguese (Brazil):	pontífice
Portuguese (Portugal):	pontífice
Romanian:	pontif
Russian:	понтифик
Slovak:	biskup; pápež
Slovenian:	cerkveni poglavar
Spanish:	pontífice
Swedish:	påve, biskop
Turkish:	papa; piskopos

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
pontiff

Another name for the pope. Pontiff comes from a Latin word, meaning “bridge builder,” that was used as a title for some of the priests of ancient Rome.

[Chapter:] World Literature, Philosophy, and Religion

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Pontiff

Pon"tiff\, n. [F. pontife, L. pontifex, -ficis; pons, pontis, a bridge (perhaps originally, a way, path) + facere to make. Cf. Pontoon.] A high priest. Especially: (a) One of the sacred college, in ancient Rome, which had the supreme jurisdiction over all matters of religion, at the head of which was the Pontifex Maximus. --Dr. W. Smith. (b) (Jewish Antiq.) The chief priest. (c) (R. C. Ch.) The pope.

On-line Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

pontiff

pontiff: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary

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