# pope

Pronunciation: say "POHP" US /poʊp/, UK /pəʊp/

## Noun

1. An honorific used for the Roman Catholic Church's leader, the bishop of Rome, who is regarded as the church's father and also rules Vatican City.
   - Simple: The title of the bishop of Rome, who leads the Roman Catholic Church and rules Vatican City.
   - _Crowds filled St. Peter's Square as the new pope appeared on the balcony for the first time._
   - _Journalists traveling with the pope were allowed to ask him questions on the flight home._
2. Any person or body treated as an absolute and supposedly infallible authority, in the manner of the pope.
   - Simple: A person or group whose word is treated as always right, like the pope's.
   - _For decades he was the pope of film criticism, and one bad review from him could sink a movie._
   - _The popes of economics dismissed her model for years before the data proved her right._
3. Any head of a religion whose role resembles that of the Roman Catholic pope.
   - Simple: The highest leader of a religion, like the pope is for Catholics.
   - _The sect's founder became its first pope, and each successor since has been chosen by a council of elders._
   - _Visiting diplomats treated the high priest as a kind of pope, though his authority was purely spiritual._
4. The honorary title of the Coptic bishop of Alexandria as father and head of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
   - Simple: The title of the bishop of Alexandria who leads the Coptic Church.
   - _Coptic bishops from Egypt and abroad gathered for the enthronement of their new pope._
   - _In his Christmas message, the Coptic pope urged believers to pray for peace in the region._
5. The title of honor held by the Orthodox bishop of Alexandria, who leads his self-governing church as its father and head.
   - Simple: The title of the Eastern Orthodox bishop of Alexandria, who leads his own independent church.
   - _The Eastern Orthodox pope of Alexandria presided over a synod of the bishops of his church._
   - _As pope and patriarch, he oversees Eastern Orthodox parishes far beyond Alexandria itself._
8. Alternative form of pop, a Russian Orthodox priest.
   - Simple: Alternative form of pop. Here it means a priest in the Russian Orthodox Church.
   - _The pope of the Russian parish heard confessions in the little wooden church every Saturday evening._
   - _A bearded pope led the midnight Easter procession around the Russian Orthodox church._
9. A likeness of the pope burned according to British custom on Guy Fawkes Day and occasionally at other times. *(UK)*
   - Simple: A figure of the pope that people in Britain burned on Guy Fawkes Day, and sometimes at other times.
   - _The bonfire society spends weeks building its pope from papier-mâché and old clothes._
   - _Crowds gathered on the green for the burning of the pope, the high point of Guy Fawkes night._
10. Any mulled wine, traditionally made with tokay, considered similar to the spiced wine called bishop but superior to it.
   - Simple: A hot wine drink with spices, similar to the drink called bishop but thought to be better.
   - _The inn's winter menu listed bishop made with port and, for a little more, pope made with tokay._
   - _He kept the pope just below a simmer so the ginger and roasted orange could steep without boiling off the alcohol._
13. The ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernua), a small freshwater fish of Europe and Asia, or any other fish of its genus. *(British)*
   - Simple: A small fish of rivers and lakes in Europe and Asia, also called a ruffe, or one of its close relatives.
   - _Popes kept taking the worms meant for the gudgeon, so we moved farther upstream._
   - _At a glance a pope looks like a small perch, with the same prickly fin along its back._
14. The Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica), a seabird that nests in burrows. *(dialectal, Cornwall, Devon, Scotland, UK)*
   - Simple: The Atlantic puffin, a seabird that makes its nest in a hole in the ground.
   - _Off the Cornish coast, a pope bobbed on the swell with a beakful of sand eels._
   - _Popes crowd the grassy clifftops in early summer, whirring in and out of their burrows._
15. The painted bunting (Passerina ciris), a small songbird with a bright blue head, a red throat and a green back. *(dialectal, US)*
   - Simple: The painted bunting, a small singing bird with a blue head, a red throat and a green back.
   - _A male pope flashed blue, red and green as it dropped from the fence to the feeder._
   - _In the Louisiana woods we heard popes singing long before we saw their bright feathers._
17. The nighthawk (Chordeiles minor), a bird that plunges through the air in steep dives. *(dialectal, US)*
   - Simple: The nighthawk, a bird that dives quickly down through the air.
   - _On summer evenings a pope would drop out of the sky over the pasture, its wings booming at the bottom of the dive._
   - _A pope circled high above the town, then folded its wings and plunged toward the rooftops._

## Verb

6. To act as a pope, or to behave in the manner of one.
   - Simple: To behave like a pope, or to do the work of a pope.
   - _Some pontiffs pope with grand ceremony; others prefer quiet modesty._
   - _She tends to pope it around the office, issuing every memo as though it were a decree._
7. To change one's religion by becoming a Roman Catholic. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To leave your old church or beliefs and join the Roman Catholic Church.
   - _His Anglican friends had long joked that he would pope before he turned fifty._
   - _He had been edging toward Rome for years, and in the end he poped quietly, without telling his old parish._

## Noun

11. Any bishop of the early Christian church, not only the bishop of Rome. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Any bishop in the early days of the Christian church.
   - _The pope of Carthage wrote to the bishops of nearby towns, urging them to stand firm during the persecution._
   - _In the first centuries of the church, the faithful of each city looked to their own pope for guidance and discipline._
12. A theocrat or priest-king, at first especially in Prester John's imaginary land, and now used in figurative and alliterative titles. *(rare)*
   - Simple: A priest who also rules as a king, or today a fun name for the top person in some activity.
   - _In the old legend, the kingdom beyond the deserts was governed by a pope who was at once its high priest and its king._
   - _Critics have long called her the pope of punk, the figure every younger band measures itself against._
16. The red-cowled cardinal (Paroaria dominicana), a crestless cardinal native to Brazil. *(rare)*
   - Simple: A small bird from Brazil with a bright red head that has no feathers sticking up on top.
   - _At the bird show, a pair of popes won first prize in the class for foreign birds._
   - _Unlike the crested cardinal, the pope has a smooth red head, which makes it easy to pick out in the aviary._
18. The whippoorwill (Antrostomus vociferus, also called Caprimulgus vociferus), a bird known for its loud calls at night. *(obsolete, US)*
   - Simple: The whippoorwill, a bird that sings loudly at night.
   - _Every night in June a pope called from the stone wall at the edge of the pasture._
   - _The popes started up at dusk, their loud cries carrying across the valley until dawn._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–7, 9, 11–16** — From Middle English pope, from Old English pāpa, from Vulgar Latin papa, a title for priests and bishops that by the 8th century was used only for the bishop of Rome. This came from early Byzantine Greek παπᾶς (papâs), a title for priests and bishops (by the 3rd century especially the bishop of Alexandria), from late Ancient Greek πάπας (pápas, "spiritual father"), from πάππας (páppas, "papa, daddy").
**Meaning 10** — Named by analogy with bishop, a mulled and spiced wine.
**Meaning 8** — From Russian поп (pop), from Old Church Slavonic попъ (popŭ), from Byzantine Greek παπᾶς (papâs).
**Meanings 17–18** — Of onomatopoeic origin, imitating a sound.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/pope (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).