pope

English Online Dictionary. What means pope‎? What does pope mean?

English

Alternative forms

• Pope

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: pōp, IPA^(key): /pəʊp/
• (US) IPA^(key): /poʊp/
• Rhymes: -əʊp

Etymology 1

From Middle English pope, popa, from Old English pāpa, from Vulgar Latin papa (title for priests and bishops, esp. and by 8th c. only the bishop of Rome), from early Byzantine Greek παπᾶς (papâs, title for priests and bishops, especially by 3rd c. the bishop of Alexandria), from late Ancient Greek πάπας (pápas, title for priests and bishops, in the sense of spiritual father), from πάππας (páppas, “papa, daddy”).

Noun

pope (plural popes)

1. (Roman Catholicism and generally) An honorary title of the Roman Catholic bishop of Rome as father and head of his church, a sovereign of the Vatican city state.

   Hypernym: cleric

   • ante 950, translating Bede's Ecclesiastical History (Tanner), iv. i. 252

     Þa wæs in þa tid Uitalius papa þæs apostolican seðles aldorbiscop.

   • 1959 August 19, Flannery O'Connor, letter in Habit of Being (1980), 347

     The Pope is not going to issue a bull condemning the Spanish Church's support of France and destroy the Church's right to exist in Spain.

   • 2007 May 5, Ted Koppel (guest), Wait, Wait... Don’t tell me!, National Public Radio

     I really did want to interview the pope. Any pope. I'm not particular.
   1. (by extension, now often ironic) Any similarly absolute and 'infallible' authority.
      • 1893 January 19, Nation (N.Y.), 46/3

        Burne-Jones... accepted him [Dante Gabriel Rossetti] as the infallible Pope of Art.

      • 1972 June 2, Science, 966/2

        Both [discoveries] were rejected offhand by the popes of the field.
   2. (by extension) Any similar head of a religion.
      • c. 1400, John Mandeville, Travels (Titus C.xvi, 1919), 205

        In þat yle dwelleth the Pope of hire lawe, þat þei clepen lobassy.

      • 2005 April 6, Kansas City Star, b7

        Although Islam has no formal hierarchy of clergy, Tantawy [Egypt's grand imam] often is called the Muslim pope.

   3. (uncommon) A theocrat, a priest-king, including (at first especially) over the imaginary land of Prester John or (now) in figurative and alliterative uses.
      • ante 1500, John Mandeville, Travels (Rawl., 1953), 103

        Eche day there etyn in his court xii erchebeshopis and xx bishopis, and the patriak of Seynt Thomays is as here pope.

      • 1993 December, Vanity Fair (N.Y.), 62/1

        Ramone, known as ‘the Pope of Pop’ is one of the top record producer-engineers in the world.

   4. (UK) An effigy of the pope traditionally burnt in Britain on Guy Fawkes' Day and (occasionally) at other times.
   5. (US, obsolete) Pope Day, the present Guy Fawkes Day.
2. (Coptic Orthodoxy) An honorary title of the Coptic bishop of Alexandria as father and head of his church.
3. (Eastern Orthodoxy) An honorary title of the Orthodox bishop of Alexandria as father and head of his autocephalous church.
4. (Christianity, historical, obsolete) Any bishop of the early Christian church.
   • 1563, 2nd Tome Homelyes, sig. Hh.i

     All notable Bishops were then called popes.
6. (British) The ruffe, a small Eurasian freshwater fish (Gymnocephalus cernua); others of its genus.
7. (UK regional, Cumberland, Cornwall, Devon, Scotland) The Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica).
8. (US regional) The painted bunting (Passerina ciris).
9. (rare) The red-cowled cardinal (Paroaria dominicana).

Usage notes

In English usage, the term is originally and generally taken to refer to the bishop of Rome, although the Egyptian title is actually older. Within the Coptic Church, the Patriarch of Alexandria is normally styled Pope ~; within the Eastern Orthodox Church, their distinct Patriarch of Alexandria is formally titled "Pope of Alexandria", but usually referred to as such only in the liturgy and official documents.

Synonyms

• (Catholic): Bishop of Rome, Patriarch of Rome, Vicar of Christ
• (Coptic): Bishop of Alexandria, Patriarch of Alexandria
• (Orthodox): Orthodox Bishop of Alexandria
• (Pope Day): See Guy Fawkes Day.
• (bishop, animals): See their respective entries.

Coordinate terms

• (adjective): papal
• (office): papacy
• (rival): antipope
• (female): popess, papess
• (supporter): papist

Derived terms

Descendants

• Jamaican Creole: puop
• Tok Pisin: pop
• → Hindi: पोप (pop)
• → Urdu: پوپ (pop)

Translations

Verb

pope (third-person singular simple present popes, present participle poping, simple past and past participle poped)

1. (intransitive or with 'it') To act as or like a pope.
   • 1537, T. Cromwell in R. B. Merriman, Life & Lett. Cromwell (1902), II. 89

   • 1966 February, Duckett's Reg., 14/2

   • 1989 September 24, Los Angeles Times, iii. 22/1

2. (intransitive, colloquial) To convert to Roman Catholicism.
   • c. 1916, in Evelyn Waugh's Life R. Knox (1959), ii. i. 142

   • 1990 October 7, Sunday Telegraph, 26/5

Etymology 2

By analogy with bishop (“mulled and spiced wine”).

Noun

pope (plural popes)

1. (alcoholic beverages) Any mulled wine (traditionally including tokay) considered similar and superior to bishop.
   • 1976 January 15, Times (London), 12/8

     Many of these hot drinks have clerical names—Bishop being a type of mulled port, Cardinal using claret, and Pope Champagne.

Etymology 3

From Russian поп (pop), from Old Church Slavonic попъ (popŭ), from Byzantine Greek παπᾶς (papâs) as above.

Noun

pope (plural popes)

1. (Russian Orthodoxy) Alternative form of pop, a Russian Orthodox priest.
   • 1996 September 20, Daily Telegraph, 25/5

     In the non-Roman rites diocesan priests are often referred to as popes.

Translations

Etymology 4

Of Onomatopoeic origin.

Noun

pope (plural popes)

1. (US, dialectal, obsolete) The whippoorwill (Antrostomus vociferus, syn. Caprimulgus vociferus).
2. (US, dialectal, rare) The nighthawk (Chordeiles minor).

References

• “pope”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• EPPO, peop., pepo

French

Etymology

From colloquial Russian поп (pop) and Попъ (Pop), from Old Church Slavonic попъ (popŭ), from Byzantine Greek πάπας (pápas)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔp/

Noun

pope m (plural popes)

1. (Eastern Orthodoxy) an Orthodox priest.

References

• “pope”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French poupée.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pope/

Noun

pope

1. doll

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian поп (pop) and Serbo-Croatian по̏п/pȍp (“priest”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɔ.pe/
• Rhymes: -ɔpe
• Hyphenation: pò‧pe

Noun

pope m (plural popi)

1. a priest of a Greek Orthodox church

Further reading

• pope in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Middle English

Alternative forms

• pape, popa, papa, papæ, pwope

Etymology

From Old English pāpa, from Vulgar Latin papa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɔːp(ə)/

Noun

pope (plural popes)

1. The pope (Roman Catholic bishop of Rome).
2. (rare) Another spiritual leader or head.

Related terms

• popedome
• popehode, popehede
• poperiche

Descendants

• English: pope
  • Jamaican Creole: puop
  • Tok Pisin: pop
  • → Hindi: पोप (pop)
  • → Urdu: پوپ (pop)
• Scots: pape, paipe, paip

References

• “pōpe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-30.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: po‧pe

Noun

pope m (plural popes)

1. (Russian Orthodoxy) pope (a Russian Orthodox priest)

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpope/ [ˈpo.pe]
• Rhymes: -ope
• Syllabification: po‧pe

Noun

pope m (plural popes)

1. (Russian Orthodoxy) pope (a Russian Orthodox priest)

Further reading

• “pope”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10