pontiff
(ˈpɒntɪf)
Also 7 -ife, 7–8 -if.
[a. F. pontife (pontif 1516), ad. L. pontifex: see pontifex]
1. Rom. Antiq. = pontifex 1.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §771 Livy doth relate, that there were found..two coffins..whereof the one contained the body of king Numa,..and the other, his books of sacred rites and ceremonies, and the discipline of the pontifs. 1706 Phillips s.v. Pontifex, There were also Pontifices Minores, or Inferiour Pontiffs who were Assistants to the chief Pontiff. 1845 Graves Rom. Law in Encycl. Metrop. II. 755/1 It is probable that Papirius, who was himself a pontiff, directed his attention principally to religious ceremonies. 1868 Smith's Dict. Grk. & Rom. Antiq. 303/1 The Roman pontiffs formed the most illustrious among the great colleges of priests. |
2. A bishop (of the mediæval Western church); spec. and usually, the bishop of Rome, the pope (in full, sovereign pontiff).
| a 1677 Barrow Pope's Suprem. (1680) B iv b, We..pronounce it to be of necessity to Salvation..to be subject to the Roman Pontife. 1769 Blackstone Comm. IV. viii. 105 The then reigning pontiff having favoured duke William in his projected invasion. 1841 W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. II. 275 By far the most remarkable among modern pontiffs, was Sixtus the Fifth, the son of a peasant in the March of Ancona. 1854 Milman Lat. Chr. vi. i. (1864) III. 369 The Bishop of Toul did not travel to Rome as a pontiff, but as a pilgrim. 1906 Q. Rev. July 267 M. Loubet had grievously offended the Sovereign Pontiff. |
3. gen. A chief or high priest (of any religion). Also fig.
| 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 711 Coy-fi, who had beene a Pontife or Bishop of the heathen rites and ceremonies. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Pontifex, The Jews too had their pontif or high-priest. 1878 G. Smith Life J. Wilson xvii. (1879) 306 These pontiffs of Krishna waxed fat with organised adultery. 1895 Westm. Gaz. 9 Sept. 2/3 Which only shows that the Pontiffs of Science are no more infallible than other Infallibles. |
4. attrib. pontiff purple, a shade of purple.
| 1742 Young Nt. Th. iii. 204 'Twas not the strife of malice, but of pride; The strife of pontiff pride, not pontiff gall. 1900 Daily News 13 Oct. 6/5 In all the new colours, brown, mauve, heliotrope, Pontiff purple. |