pontiff

See also: Pontiff

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French pontife, from Latin pontifex. Doublet of pontifex.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒntɪf/

Noun

pontiff (plural pontiffs)

(historical, Ancient Rome) A member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs; a pontifex. [from 17th c.]
A bishop of the early Church; now specifically, the Pope. [from 16th c.]
- 2007, Edwin Mullins, The Popes of Avignon, Blue Bridge 2008, p. 46:
  In several respects John turned out to be an unexpected figure as supreme pontiff.
(figuratively) Any chief figure or leader of a religion. [from 16th c.]

Related terms

pontificate

Translations

pope

Belarusian: панты́фік m (pantýfik)
Bulgarian: понтифекс m (pontifeks)
Catalan: pontífex m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 教皇 (zh) (jiàohuáng), 教宗 (zh) (jiàozōng)
Dutch: paus (nl) m, hogepriester (nl) m, pontifex (nl) m
Esperanto: ĉefpastro
Estonian: pontifeks
Finnish: pontiff (fi)
French: pontife (fr) m
German: Pontifex (de) m
Greek: ποντίφικας (el) m (pontífikas)
Italian: pontefice (it)
Japanese: 教皇 (ja) (きょうおう, kyōō)
Korean: 교황(敎皇) (ko) (gyohwang)
Persian: پونتیفکس‎ (pontifeks)
Polish: pontyfik (pl) m
Portuguese: pontífice (pt)
Romanian: pontif (ro)
Russian: понти́фик (ru) m (pontífik)
Slovak: pontifex m
Spanish: papa (es) m, pontífice (es) m
Tagalog: pontipise
Ukrainian: понти́фік m (pontýfik)
Vietnamese: giáo hoàng (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} ĉefpastro

References

pontiff at OneLook Dictionary Search
pontiff in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “pontiff”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.