bishop
Meanings
Plural: bishops
Noun
- a senior member of the Christian clergy having spiritual and administrative authority; appointed in Christian churches to oversee priests or ministers; considered in some churches to be successors of the twelve Apostles of Christ
- port wine mulled with oranges and cloves
- (chess) a piece that can be moved diagonally over unoccupied squares of the same color
- An overseer of congregations: either any such overseer, generally speaking, or (in Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Anglicanism, etc.) an official in the church hierarchy (actively or nominally) governing a diocese, supervising the church's priests, deacons, and property in its territory.
- An overseer of congregations: either any such overseer, generally speaking, or (in Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Anglicanism, etc.) an official in the church hierarchy (actively or nominally) governing a diocese, supervising the church's priests, deacons, and property in its territory.
- A similar official or chief priest in another religion.
- The holder of the Greek or Roman position of episcopus, supervisor over the public dole of grain, etc.
- Any watchman, inspector, or overlooker.
- A chief of the Festival of Fools or St. Nicholas Day.
- The chess piece denoted ♗ or ♝ which moves along diagonal lines and developed from the shatranj alfil ("elephant") and was originally known as the aufil or archer in English.
- Any of various African birds of the genus Euplectes; a kind of weaverbird closely related to the widowbirds.
- A ladybug or ladybird, beetles of the family Coccinellidae.
- A flowering plant of the genus Bifora.
- A sweet drink made from wine, usually with oranges, lemons, and sugar; mulled and spiced port.
- A bustle.
- A children's smock or pinafore.
Verb
- To act as a bishop, to perform the duties of a bishop, especially to confirm another's membership in the church.
- To act as a bishop, to perform the duties of a bishop, especially to confirm another's membership in the church.
- To confirm (in its other senses).
- To make a bishop.
- To provide with bishops.
- To permit food (especially milk) to burn while cooking (from bishops' role in the inquisition or as mentioned in the quotation below, of horses).
- To make a horse seem younger, particularly by manipulation of its teeth.
- To murder by drowning.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English bischop, bishop, bisshop, biscop, from Old English bisċop (“bishop”), from Proto-West Germanic *biskop, from Vulgar Latin (e)biscopus, from classical Latin episcopus (“overseer, supervisor”), from Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos, “overseer”), from ἐπί (epí, “over”) + σκοπός (skopós, “watcher”), used in Greek and Latin both generally and as a title of civil officers. Cognate with all European terms for the position in various Christian churches; compare bisp.
Synonyms
consecrator, diocesan bishop, hierarch, ordinary, suffragan bishop
Scrabble Score: 13
bishop is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordbishop is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
bishop is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary