pope

¹ American  

[pohp] / poʊp /

noun

1. (often initial capital letter) the bishop of Rome as head of the Roman Catholic Church.

2. (in the early Christian church) a bishop.

3. a person considered as having or assuming authority or a position similar to that of the Roman Catholic pope.

4. the title of the Coptic patriarch of Alexandria.

5. Eastern Church.

   1. the Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria.

   2. (in certain churches) a parish priest.

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Pope ² American  

[pohp] / poʊp /

noun

1. Alexander, 1688–1744, English poet.

2. John, 1822–92, Union general in the U.S. Civil War.

3. John Russell, 1874–1937, U.S. architect.

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Popé ³ American  

[poh-pey] / poʊˈpeɪ /

noun

1. died 1690?, Pueblo medicine man: led rebellion against the Spanish 1680.

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pope ¹ British  

/ pəʊp /

noun

1. another name for ruffe

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Pope ² British  

/ pəʊp /

noun

1. Alexander. 1688–1744, English poet, regarded as the most brilliant satirist of the Augustan period, esp with his Imitations of Horace (1733–38). His technical virtuosity is most evident in The Rape of the Lock (1712–14). Other works include The Dunciad (1728; 1742), the Moral Essays (1731–35), and An Essay on Man (1733–34)

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pope ³ British  

/ pəʊp /

noun

1. (often capital) the bishop of Rome as head of the Roman Catholic Church

2. Eastern Orthodox Church

   1. a title sometimes given to a parish priest

   2. a title sometimes given to the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria

3. a person assuming or having a status or authority resembling that of a pope

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pope Cultural  

1. The head of the Roman Catholic Church. The pope is believed by his church to be the successor to the Apostle Peter. He is bishop of Rome and lives in a tiny nation within Rome called the Vatican. Catholics believe that when the pope speaks officially on matters of faith and morals, he speaks infallibly (see papal infallibility). (See also John XXIII and John Paul II.)

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Other Word Forms

• popeless adjective
• popelike adjective

Etymology

Origin of pope

before 900; Middle English; Old English pāpa < Late Latin: bishop, pope < Late Greek pápas bishop, priest, variant of páppas father; papa

Explanation

A pope is the head of the Catholic Church. The official title of a pope is the bishop of Rome. When you refer to a specific pope, the word is capitalized, as in Pope Francis. Each pope is considered to be a successor to the Biblical apostle Saint Peter, and each is elected by a group of Catholic cardinals to be the highest religious authority. Pope is from the Old English papa and derives from the Greek papas, which means "patriarch, bishop, or father."

Example Sentences

It wasn’t immediately clear if John Prevost’s connection to the pope was the motivation for the fake report.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

He started his trip in Algeria on Monday, marking the first visit by any pope to the predominantly Muslim country.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

He once before put out an A.I.-generated image of himself as pope, and that incident was largely laughed off.

From Slate • Apr. 15, 2026

The pope is slated to leave Algeria on Wednesday for Cameroon, before travelling on to Angola and Equatorial Guinea.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

He should never have agreed to raise to the papacy any cardinal he might have injured or who, upon becoming pope, might have cause to fear him.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

Related Words

• pontiff