archimandrite

American  

[ahr-kuh-man-drahyt] / ˌɑr kəˈmæn draɪt /

noun

Eastern Church.

1. the head of a monastery; an abbot.

2. a superior abbot, having charge of several monasteries.

3. a title given to distinguished celibate priests.

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archimandrite British  

/ ˌɑːkɪˈmændraɪt /

noun

1. Greek Orthodox Church the head of a monastery or a group of monasteries

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Etymology

Origin of archimandrite

1585–95; < Late Latin archimandrīta < Late Greek archimandrī́tēs abbot, equivalent to Greek archi- archi- + Late Greek mándr ( a ) monastery ( Greek: fold, enclosure) + -ītēs -ite ¹

Example Sentences

I don't know what passed at their interview, but the archimandrite disappeared and I was detained.

From The World's Greatest Books — Volume 10 — Lives and Letters by Mee, Arthur

She has already put Manchuria under the Greek archimandrite of Peking, and has sought to limit all Christian teaching to the members of the Orthodox Greek Church.

From New Forces in Old China An Inevitable Awakening by Brown, Arthur Judson

In this he was supported at Constantinople by Chrysaphius, the all-powerful minister of the weak Theodosius II, and the archimandrite Eutyches, the godfather of the minister.

From A Source Book for Ancient Church History by Ayer, Joseph Cullen

After dinner two rich ladies, landowners, arrived and sat for an hour and a half in silence with rigid countenances; the archimandrite, a silent, rather deaf man, came to see him about business.

From The Bishop and Other Stories by Garnett, Constance

My next occupation was that of interpreter to a Greek prelate and archimandrite of Jerusalem, whom I met when dining in a little restaurant.

From The World's Greatest Books — Volume 10 — Lives and Letters by Mee, Arthur