- bishopric
- O.E. bisceoprice, from bishop + rice "realm, province" (see regal).
- bishop
- O.E. bisceop, from L.L. episcopus, from Gk. episkopos "watcher, overseer," a title for various government officials, later taken over in a Church sense, from epi- "over" + skopos "watcher," from skeptesthai "look at." Given a specific sense in the Church, but the word also was used in the N.T. as a descriptive title for elders, and continues as such in some non-hierarchical Christian sects. The chess piece (formerly archer, before that alfin) was so called from 1562.
- Pope
- O.E. papa, from M.L. papa "bishop, pope" (in classical L., "tutor"), from Gk. papas "patriarch, bishop," originally "father." Applied to bishops of Asia Minor and taken as a title by the Bishop of Alexandria c.250. In Western Church, applied especially to the Bishop of Rome since the time of Leo the Great (440-461) and claimed exclusively by them from 1073. Popemobile, his car, is from 1979. Papal, papacy, later acquisitions in Eng., preserve the original vowel. Popery (1534) was a hostile coinage of the Reformation.
- suffragan
- c.1380, "bishop who assists another bishop," from Anglo-Fr. and O.Fr. suffragan (13c.), from M.L. suffraganeus "assisting, supporting," from L. suffragium "support" (see suffrage).
- archbishop
- O.E. ærcebiscop, from L.L. archiepiscopus, from Gk. arkhi- "chief" (see archon) + episkopos "bishop," lit. "overseer." Replaced earlier O.E. heah biscop (see bishop).
- pontiff
- 1610, "high priest," from Fr. pontif (1516), from L. pontifex, title of a Roman high priest (see pontifex). Used for "bishop" in Church Latin, but not recorded in that sense in Eng. until 1677, specifically "the bishop of Rome," the pope. Pontifical, however, is used with this sense from c.1440. Pontificate (v.) "issue dogmatic decrees" is first attested 1825.
- metropolitan
- 1432, as a noun, "bishop having oversight of other bishops," from L.L. metropolitanus, from Gk. metropolis "mother city" (from which others have been colonized), from meter "mother" + polis "city" (see policy (1)). In Gk., "parent state of a colony;" later, "see of a metropolitan bishop." In the West, the position now roughly corresponds to archbishop, but in the Gk. church it ranks above it. In Eng., the adj. sense of "belonging to an ecclesiastical metropolis" is from 1548; that of "belonging to a chief or capital city" is from 1555. In ref. to underground city railways, it is attested from 1867.
- superintendent
- 1554, originally an ecclesiastical word meaning "bishop" or "minister who supervises churches within a district" (a loan-translation of Gk. episkopos "overseer"), from M.L. superintendentem (nom. superintendens), from prp. of L.L. superintendere "oversee," from L. super "above" (see super-) + intendere "turn one's attention, direct" (see intend). Famously used by 16c. radical Protestants in place of bishop, which was to them tainted by Papacy.
"[Martinists] studie to pull downe Bishopps, and set vp Superintendents, which is nothing else, but to raze out good Greeke, & enterline bad Latine." [Lyly, "Pappe with an Hatchet," 1589]
The general sense of "a person who has charge of some business" is first recorded 1588. Meaning "janitor, custodian" is from c.1935. Shortened form super first attested 1857, especially at first of overseers of sheep ranches in Australia. - Jansenism
- 1656, in ref. to doctrine of Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638), Catholic bishop of Ypres, who maintained the perverseness and inability for good of the natural human will.
- Augustine
- c.1400 in ref. to members of the religious order named for St. Augustine the Great (354-430), bishop of Hippo.
- metropolis
- "seat of a metropolitan bishop," 1535, see metropolitan. Meaning "chief town or capital city of a province" is first attested 1590.
- Ruy Lopez
- type of chess opening, 1876, from Ruy López de Segura (fl. 1560), Sp. bishop and writer on chess, who developed it.
- tar (v.)
- in tar and feather, 1769. A mob action in U.S. in Revolutionary times and several decades thereafter. Originally it had been imposed by an ordinance of Richard I (1189) as punishment in the navy for theft. Among other applications over the years was its use in 1623 by a bishop on "a party of incontinent friars and nuns" [OED], but not until 1769 was the verbal phrase attested.
- cathedra
- "seat of a bishop in his church," 1829, from L. cathedra (see cathedral).
- see (n.)
- "position of a bishop," c.1300, from O.Fr. sied, sed, from L. sedem (nom. sedes) "seat, abode," related to sedere "to sit" (see sedentary).
- archer
- c.1300, from O.Fr. archier, from L. arcarius, from arcus "bow" (see arc). Also a 17c. name for the bishop in chess.
- Ambrose
- masc. proper name, from L. Ambrosius, from Gk. ambrosios "immortal, belonging to the immortals" (see ambrosia). The Ambrosian Library in Milan is named for St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan.
- Santa Claus
- 1773 (as St. A Claus, in "New York Gazette"), Amer.Eng., from dialectal Du. Sante Klaas, from M.Du. Sinter Niklaas "Saint Nicholas," bishop of Asia Minor who became a patron saint for children. Now a worldwide phenomenon (e.g. Japanese santakurosu).
- episcopal
- c.1460, from M.Fr. episcopal, from L.L. episcopalis, from L. episcopus (see bishop). Sense of a church governed by bishops is 1752. With a capital -E-, the ordinary designation of the Anglican church in the U.S. and Scotland.
- elite
- 1823, from Fr. élite "selection, choice," from O.Fr. fem. pp. of elire, elisre "pick out, choose," from L. eligere "choose" (see election). Borrowed in M.E. as "chosen person," esp. a bishop-elect, died out c.1450, re-introduced by Byron's "Don Juan." As a typeface, first recorded 1920. Elitist, elitism are first attested 1950 (the original examples were Freud, Nietzsche, and Carlyle).
- Nicholas
- masc. proper name, from Gk. Nikholaos, lit. "victory-people," from nike "victory" + laos "people." The saint (obit. 326 C.E.) was a bishop of Myra in Lycia, patron of scholars, especially schoolboys. A popular given name in England in Middle Ages, as was the fem. form Nicolaa, corresponding to Fr. Nicole. Colloquial Old Nick "the devil" is attested from 1643, evidently from the proper name, but for no certain reason.
- psychiatry
- 1846, from Fr. psychiatrie, from M.L. psychiatria, lit. "a healing of the soul," from Gk. psykhe- "mind" (see psyche) + iatreia "healing, care." Psychiatrist first recorded 1890; the older name was mad-doctor (1703).
"A psychiatrist is a man who goes to the Folies Bergère and looks at the audience." [Anglican Bishop Mervyn Stockwood, 1961]
- Hilary
- masc. proper name, from L.L. Hilarius, lit. "cheerful," from L. hilaris (see hilarity). The name was more popular in France than in England. The woman's name (M.E. Hillaria) seems to be merged from Eulalia, name of the patron saint of Barcelona, a Latinization of Gk. eulalos "sweetly speaking." The Hilary sessions of British High Court and universities (1577) are from St. Hilarius, Bishop of Poitiers, obit. C.E. 368, whose feast day is Jan. 13.
- cathedral (n.)
- 1587, "church of a bishop," from phrase cathedral church (c.1300), translating L.L. ecclesia cathedralis "church of a bishop's seat," from Gk. kathedra "seat, bench," from kata "down" + hedra "seat, base, chair, face of a geometric solid," from PIE base *sed- "to sit" (see sedentary).
- primate
- "high bishop," c.1200, from M.L. primas (gen. primatis) "church primate," from L.L. adj. primas "of the first rank, chief, principal," from primus "first" (see prime (adj.)). Meaning "biological order including monkeys and humans" is 1898, from Mod.L. Primates (Linnæus), from pl. of L. primas so called from supposedly being the "highest" order of mammals (originally also including bats). Hence, primatology "the study of Primates" (1941).
- vandal
- 1663, "willful destroyer of what is beautiful or venerable," from Vandals, name of Gmc. tribe that sacked Rome, 455, under Genseric, from L. Vandalus (pl. Vandali), from the tribe's name for itself (O.E. Wendlas), from P.Gmc. *Wandal- "Wanderer."
"There does not seem to be in the story of the capture of Rome by the Vandals any justification for the charge of willful and objectless destruction of public buildings which is implied in the word 'vandalism.' It is probable that this charge grew out of the fierce persecution which was carried on by [the Vandal king] Gaiseric and his son against the Catholic Christians, and which is the darkest stain on their characters." ["Encyclopedia Britannica," 13th ed., 1926]
Vandalism is attested from 1798, from Fr. vandalisme, first used by Henri Grégoire, Bishop of Blois, c.1793. The verb vandalize is first recorded 1845. - cum
- (v. and n.) seems to be a modern (by 1973) variant of the sexual sense of come that originated in pornographic writing, perhaps first in the noun sense. This "experience sexual orgasm" slang meaning of come (perhaps originally come off) is attested from 1650, in "Walking In A Meadowe Greene," in a folio of "loose songs" collected by Bishop Percy.
They lay soe close together, they made me much to wonder;
As a noun meaning "semen or other product of orgasm" it is on record from the 1920s. The sexual cum seems to have no connection with L. cum, the preposition meaning "with, together with," which is occasionally used in English in local names of combined parishes or benifices (e.g. Chorlton-cum-Hardy), in popular Latin phrases (e.g. cum laude), or as a combining word to indicate a dual nature or function (e.g. slumber party-cum-bloodbath).
I knew not which was wether, until I saw her under.
Then off he came, and blusht for shame soe soon that he had endit;
Yet still she lies, and to him cryes, "one more and none can mend it." - saint
- early 12c., from O.Fr. seinte, altering O.E. sanct, both from L. sanctus "holy, consecrated" (used as a noun in L.L.), prop. pp. of sancire "consecrate" (see sacred). Adopted into most Gmc. languages (cf. O.Fris. sankt, Du. sint, Ger. Sanct). Originally an adj. prefixed to the name of a canonized person; by c.1300 it came to be regarded as a noun.
"Saint - A dead sinner revised and edited. The Duchess of Orleans relates that the irreverent old calumniator, Marshal Villeroi, who in his youth had known St. Francis de Sales, said, on hearing him called saint: 'I am delighted to hear that Monsieur de Sales is a saint. He was fond of saying indelicate things, and used to cheat at cards. In other respects he was a perfect gentleman, though a fool.' " [Ambrose Bierce, "Devil's Dictionary," 1911]
Meaning "person of extraordinary holiness" is recorded from 1563. The verb meaning "to enroll (someone) among the saints" is attested from late 14c. Applied widely to living things, diseases, objects and phenomena, e.g. Saint Bernard, the breed of mastiff dogs (1839), so called because they were used by the monks of the hospice of the pass of St. Bernard (between Italy and Switzerland) to rescue snowbound travelers; St. Elmo's Fire "corposant" (1560s) is from It. fuoco di Sant'Elmo, named for the patron saint of Mediterranean sailors, a corruption of the name of St. Erasmus, an Italian bishop martyred in 303.