bishop
noun · verb
Simple meaning
An overseer of congregations: either any such overseer, generally speaking, or an official in the church hierarchy governing a diocese, supervising the church's priests.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bishuhpSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɪʃəp
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
christianity
An overseer of congregations: either any such overseer, generally speaking, or (in Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Anglicanism, etc.) an official in the church hierarchy (actively or nominally) governing a diocese, supervising the church's priests, deacons, and property in its territory.
A chief of the Festival of Fools or St. Nicholas Day.
Port wine mulled with oranges and cloves
A locale in the United States.
A self-propelled 25-pounder vehicle produced by the United Kingdom during World War II, so called from a supposed resemblance to a bishop's miter.
Any of various African birds of the genus Euplectes; a kind of weaverbird closely related to the widowbirds.
verb
by extensionof equestrianism
To make a horse seem younger, particularly by manipulation of its teeth.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An overseer of congregations: either any such overseer, generally speaking, or (in Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Anglicanism, etc.) an official in the church hierarchy (actively or nominally) governing a diocese, supervising the church's priests, deacons, and property in its territory.
Used this way, bishop is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a religious use: it carries the weight of tradition and ceremony.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Official and authoritative
- Usage feel
- Formal and precise
Where it naturally appears
- Religion/spirituality
- Historical writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.