patriarch Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun title for the heads of the Eastern Orthodox Churches (in Istanbul and Alexandria and Moscow and Jerusalem)
  2. noun the male head of family or tribe
    paterfamilias.
  3. noun any of the early biblical characters regarded as fathers of the human race
  4. noun a man who is older and higher in rank than yourself

WordNet

Pa"tri*arch noun
Etymology
F. patriarche, L. patriarcha, Gr. , fr. lineage, especially on the father's side, race; father + a leader, chief, fr. to lead, rule. See Father, Archaic.
Definitions
  1. The father and ruler of a family; one who governs his family or descendants by paternal right; -- usually applied to heads of families in ancient history, especially in Biblical and Jewish history to those who lived before the time of Moses.
  2. (R. C. Ch. & Gr. Ch.) A dignitary superior to the order of archbishops; as, the patriarch of Constantinople, of Alexandria, or of Antioch.
  3. A venerable old man; an elder. Also used figuratively.
    The patriarch hoary, the sage of his kith and the hamlet. Longfellow.
    The monarch oak, the partiarch of trees. Dryde.

Webster 1913