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bishop

1 American  
[bish-uhp] / ˈbɪʃ əp /

noun

  1. a person who supervises a number of local churches or a diocese, being in the Greek, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other churches a member of the highest order of the ministry.

  2. a spiritual supervisor, overseer, or the like.

  3. Chess. one of two pieces of the same color that may be moved any unobstructed distance diagonally, one on white squares and the other on black.

  4. a hot drink made of port wine, oranges, cloves, etc.

  5. Also called bishop bird.  any of several colorful African weaverbirds of the genus Euplectes, often kept as pets.

verb (used with object)

bishoped, bishoping

  1. to appoint to the office of bishop.

Bishop 2 American  
[bish-uhp] / ˈbɪʃ əp /

noun

  1. Elizabeth, 1911–79, U.S. poet.

  2. Hazel Gladys, 1906–1998, U.S. chemist and businesswoman.

  3. John Peale, 1892–1944, U.S. poet and essayist.

  4. Morris (Gilbert), 1893–1973, U.S. humorist, poet, and biographer.

  5. William Avery Billy, 1894–1956, Canadian aviator: helped to establish Canadian air force.

bishop 1 British  
/ ˈbɪʃəp /

noun

  1. (in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Greek Orthodox Churches) a clergyman having spiritual and administrative powers over a diocese or province of the Church See also suffragan

  2. (in some Protestant Churches) a spiritual overseer of a local church or a number of churches

  3. a chesspiece, capable of moving diagonally over any number of unoccupied squares of the same colour

  4. mulled wine, usually port, spiced with oranges, cloves, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Bishop 2 British  
/ ˈbɪʃəp /

noun

  1. Elizabeth . 1911–79, US poet, who lived in Brazil. Her poetry reflects her travelling experience, esp in the tropics

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Bishop Scientific  
/ bĭsh′əp /

  1. American molecular biologist who, working with Harold Varmus, discovered oncogenes. For this work, Bishop and Varmus shared the 1989 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine.

bishop Cultural  

  1. In some Christian churches, a person appointed to oversee a group of priests or ministers and their congregations. In the Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Roman Catholic Church, bishops are considered the successors of the Twelve Apostles.

Other Word Forms

  • bishopless adjective
  • bishoplike adjective
  • underbishop noun

Etymology

Origin of bishop

before 900; Middle English; Old English bisc ( e ) op < Vulgar Latin *ebiscopus, for Late Latin episcopus < Greek epískopos overseer, equivalent to epi- epi- + skopós watcher; scope

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In my five years as bishop of Joliet, our diocese went through a restructuring that required parish mergers and hard decisions.

From The Wall Street Journal

The independent review said since the 1990s a "number of changes" had been made with the introduction of safeguarding officers to the Church, development of policies, and increased scrutiny and safeguarding checks in bishops' appointments.

From BBC

The bishop has been released on conditional bail.

From BBC

General Synod did vote to continue to look into the issue in the future, but bishops had already decided there were theological and legal barriers to having such ceremonies now.

From BBC

Meanwhile, Peru's bishops conference said on February 4 it hoped Leo would visit the Latin American country either in November or December.

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.