hierarch

[ hahy-uh-rahrk, hahy-rahrk ]

noun

1. a person who rules or has authority in sacred matters; high priest.
2. a person having high position or considerable authority.
3. one of a body of officials or minor priests in certain ancient Greek temples.

hierarch

/ ˈhaɪəˌrɑːk /

noun

1. 1. a person in a position of high priestly authority
   2. a person holding high rank in a religious hierarchy
2. a person at a high level in a hierarchy

Derived Forms

• ˌhierˈarchal, adjective

Other Words From

• hier·archal adjective
• anti·hier·archal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hierarch¹

1480–90; < Medieval Latin hierarcha < Greek hierárchēs steward of sacred rites, equivalent to hier- hier- + -archēs -arch

Example Sentences

“I had the honor of knowing a hierarch who did not hesitate to directly express his opinion, regardless of whether this would displease his interlocutor or even a section of society,” Anastasiades said.

From Seattle Times

He was no ordinary scholar, this man, but the apotheosis of scholars: the most famous personage in Zosma, save the queen and the hierarch, and the most popular, bar none.

From Literature

Those include Bartholomew Samaras, a key confidante of the patriarch; Emmanuel Adamakis, an influential hierarch in the church; and Elpidophoros Lambriniadis, who heads a prestigious seminary on the Turkish island of Halki.

From Washington Times

Mr Sachs warmed up for his session with the oil chiefs with an impassioned peroration delivered yesterday on the Greek island of Spetses, at a diverse gathering of environmental scientists, theologians and activists convened by the senior hierarch of the Orthodox church, Patriarch Bartholomew I.

From Economist

No human, from the greenest convert to the most supreme hierarch, can “lower the bar.”

From Washington Post

Related Words

• bishop