Etymologically
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patriarch

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈpeɪtɹɪɑːk/, /ˈpætɹiɑːk/[1]
  • US: /ˈpeɪtɹiɑɹk/[1]

Etymology

Old English already had the word, borrowed from Latin, in Bald's Leechbook.[2] The Middle English word, inherited from Middle English patriarke, also patriarche,[3][4][5] is borrowed from Old French patriarche[2][4][3][6] and directly borrowed from Late Latin patriarcha,[2][4][3] used by Tertullian.[4][2] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek πατριάρχης (patriárkhēs, “head of a family or tribe”),[2][4][7] a word of the Septuagint,[2][8] formed from πατριά (patriá, “family, clan, lineage”), from πατήρ (patḗr, “father”), and -άρχης (-árkhēs, “ruler”), from ἄρχω (árkhō, “to rule”).[2][3][4][9] The Greek word for father is related to English father.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Old English, the bishop of one of the chief sees of the ancient world.[2] The first Middle English record, about 1200 in a sermon, is in the biblical sense, the male head or ancestor of a family or people;[2] Barnhart dates it probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle.[3]

Semantic evolution

In the Septuagint the Greek word named the heads of the tribes of Israel, especially the twelve sons of Jacob, and was early adopted as an honorary title for the bishops of certain sees, at first Antioch, Alexandria and Rome.[8][4] In Old French it was used of the bishop of Jerusalem by about 1100.[2] English has kept both lines: the biblical fathers (about 1200) and church dignitaries (Old English, and again about 1300 in Barnhart).[2][3] From the 16th century it was also used of the founder of a religious order or institution (before 1538) and then of anything (1650).[2][10] The general sense, the male head or ancestor of any people or family, appears in 1758,[2] and Etymonline dates "the father and ruler of a family" to 1817.[4] Johnson (1755) gave "one who governs by paternal right" as the first sense, quoting Milton.[11] The word was also used of a venerable old man, or the oldest member of a group, from 1819,[2][10] and of a dominant male animal or the oldest tree of its kind from 1700.[2]

Timeline

  • Old English – the bishop of one of the chief sees, in Bald's Leechbook.[2]
  • c. 1200 – the male head or ancestor of a family or tribe in the Bible.[2][3]
  • c. 1225 – a pagan chief priest (obsolete); later, a leader in a non-Christian religion.[2]
  • before 1538 – the founder of a religious order or institution.[2]
  • 1650 – the founder of anything.[2]
  • 1700 – the oldest or dominant animal or tree of its kind.[2]
  • 1758 – the male head or ancestor of any people or family.[2] Etymonline dates "the father and ruler of a family" to 1817.[4]
  • 1795 – the president of the Sanhedrin.[2]
  • 1819 – a venerable old man.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The male head of a family or tribe: The family patriarch carved the roast at every holiday.[12][2]
  2. In the Bible, one of the forefathers of the human race or of the Hebrew people, especially Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the twelve sons of Jacob.[5][12][2]
  3. The bishop of one of the ancient chief sees, such as Rome, Antioch and Alexandria.[2][8]
  4. A man regarded as the founder or father of something, such as a religion, science or industry.[5][2]
  5. A very old or venerable man; the oldest member of a group.[12][5][2]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  10. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins