patriarchs


In the Old Testament, the “founding fathers” of the Israelites: Abraham and Isaac, Jacob, and the sons of Jacob. (See Joseph and his brothers.)

Words Nearby patriarchs

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

How to use patriarchs in a sentence

  • Nor has Dick ever been one of those heavy-handed patriarchs who bangs his fist on the table and demands that everyone get along.

    The Cheneys’ Gay Marriage War | Michelle Cottle | November 18, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • As the great commentator, the Ramban, teaches, “everything that happened to the patriarchs is a portent for the children.”

    The Vulnerability of American Rabbis | Rabbi Jonah Geffen | November 8, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • They are supposed to be the varieties which were propagated by the patriarchs and their descendants, the Jewish race.

    Domestic Animals | Richard L. Allen
  • Perhaps the patriarchs own statement of the case, as made to the writer, gives as good a defence for the custom as can be made.

    The Cradle of Mankind | W.A. Wigram
  • The patriarchs body was treated with the grossest indignity—stripped, and flung out into the street.

    The Cradle of Mankind | W.A. Wigram
  • "One of the patriarchs, I suppose you mean," replied Fanny, smiling.

    Frank Fairlegh | Frank E. Smedley
  • In the Kalevala we meet with no kings, but only patriarchs, or chiefs of clans.