hierarch

Meaning

Noun

• One who has high and controlling authority in sacred things; the chief of a sacred order.
• A title of bishops in their role as ordinaries (arbiters of canon law) over their respective dioceses.

Related

Similar words

• ordinary

Origin

• From Medieval Latin hierarcha, from Ancient Greek ἱεράρχης Derived from ἱερός + -άρχης.
• ἱερός from Proto-Hellenic *iherós, from Proto-Indo-European *ish₁ros. There are a number of candidate cognates with this word. Compare Sanskrit इषिर and Oscan 𐌀𐌉𐌔𐌖𐌔𐌉𐌔.