exarch

1
[ ek-sahrk ]

noun
  1. Eastern Church.

    • a patriarch's deputy.

    • a title originally applied to a patriarch but later applied only to a bishop ranking below a patriarch and above a metropolitan.

  2. the ruler of a province in the Byzantine Empire.

Origin of exarch

1
1580–90; <Late Latin exarchus superintendent <Greek éxarchos overseer, leader, equivalent to ex-ex-3 + -archos-arch

Other words from exarch

  • ex·arch·al, adjective

Words Nearby exarch

Other definitions for exarch (2 of 2)

exarch2
[ ek-sahrk ]

adjectiveBotany.
  1. (of a primary xylem or root) developing from the center; having the youngest cells closest to the core.

Origin of exarch

2
1890–95; ex-2 + Greek archḗ beginning

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use exarch in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for exarch (1 of 2)

exarch1

/ (ˈɛksɑːk) /


noun
  1. the head of certain autonomous Orthodox Christian Churches, such as that of Bulgaria and Cyprus

  2. any of certain Eastern Orthodox bishops, lower in rank than a patriarch but higher than a metropolitan

  1. the governor of a province in the Byzantine Empire

Origin of exarch

1
C16: from Late Latin exarchus overseer, from Greek exarkhos, from exarkhein to take the lead, from arkhein to rule

Derived forms of exarch

  • exarchal, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for exarch (2 of 2)

exarch2

/ (ˈɛksɑːk) /


adjective
  1. botany (of a xylem strand) having the first-formed xylem external to that formed later: Compare endarch, mesarch

Origin of exarch

2
C19: from ex- 1 (outside) + Greek arkhē beginning, origin

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