hierarch, a. and n.
(ˈhaɪərɑːk)
Also 5 ierarch.
[ad. med.L. hierarcha, a. Gr. ἱεράρχης steward or president of sacred rites, high priest, f. ἱερός sacred + -αρχης, -αρχος, ruling, ruler.]
† A. adj. Having rule in holy things, or among the holy ones: applied to certain orders of angels. Obs. (Cf. hierarchy 1.)
| 1486 Bk. St. Albans, Her. A iv a, Of thorderis of angelis v. be ierarch and iiii. tron[ly]. |
B. n.
1. One who has rule or authority in holy things; an ecclesiastical ruler or potentate; a chief priest; a chief prelate, an archbishop.
| 1574 Life 70th Abp. Canterb. To Rdr. D ij b, The two Hierarches off Canterburie and Yorke. 1640 Bastwick Lord Bps. iii. C iij, And those Diverse, he makes to be Prelates, or Hierarchs. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. v. (1851) 115 Their great Hierarch the Pope. 1841 G. Waddington Hist. Ref. III. xxxviii. 127 Nothing was farther from the thoughts of its hierarchs than any serious purpose of self-amendment. 1879 Farrar St. Paul I. 105 note, On the first summons of Peter and John before the Hierarchs. |
2. Applied to an archangel; also to Christ, as commander of the celestial hierarchy.
| 1667 Milton P.L. v. 468 To whom the winged Hierarch [Raphael] repli'd. Ibid. xi. 220 The Princely Hierarch, In thir bright stand there left his Powers, to seise Possession of the Garden. 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. V. 233 Subject to the Hierarch of the Celestial Hierarchy. |