plural bishops
1
: someone having spiritual or ecclesiastical supervision over others: such as
a
: an Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, or Roman Catholic clergyperson ranking above a priest, having authority to ordain and confirm, and typically governing a diocese
b
: any of various Protestant clerical officials who superintend other clergy
c
: a Mormon high priest presiding over a ward or over all other bishops and over the Aaronic priesthood
2
: either of two pieces of each color in a set of chessmen having the power to move diagonally across any number of adjoining unoccupied squares
3
: mulled port wine flavored with oranges and cloves
Examples of bishop in a Sentence
the Bishop of New York
Recent Examples on the Web
Verny, who is currently the bishop of Chambery, France, has been a member of the commission since 2022 and heads the child protection council of the bishops conference in France, where the church has been rocked by revelations of decades and abuse by priests and bishops.
—
Nicole Winfield, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2025
Leo’s old diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, meanwhile, is waiting for their bishop to come home, and then there’s Argentina, which never got a papal visit from the first-ever Argentine pope.
—Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2025
The cardinal, a former Bishop of San Diego, is one of several Catholic bishops who have spoken out against Trump’s migration policies.
—Christopher Lamb, CNN Money, 3 July 2025
The Nashville bishop specifically mentioned immigrants among those populations, a remark that echoes his recent statements alongside other U.S. Catholic bishops expressing concern about President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.
—Liam Adams, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for bishop
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Nicole Winfield, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2025
Leo’s old diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, meanwhile, is waiting for their bishop to come home, and then there’s Argentina, which never got a papal visit from the first-ever Argentine pope.
—Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2025
The cardinal, a former Bishop of San Diego, is one of several Catholic bishops who have spoken out against Trump’s migration policies.
—Christopher Lamb, CNN Money, 3 July 2025
The Nashville bishop specifically mentioned immigrants among those populations, a remark that echoes his recent statements alongside other U.S. Catholic bishops expressing concern about President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.
—Liam Adams, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for bishop
Cite this Entry
“Bishop.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bishop. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
bishop
noun
bish·op
ˈbish-əp 
1
: a high-ranking member of various sects of the Christian clergy usually in charge of a diocese
2
: a chess piece that moves diagonally
Etymology
Old English bisceop "bishop," from Latin episcopus (same meaning), from Greek episkopos, literally, "overseer," from epi- "on, over" and skopos "watcher, goal, object" — related to episcopal, horoscope, scope
Word Origin
The Old English word bisceop, from which we get our modern English word bishop, comes to us from the Latin word episcopus. Like many other Latin words connected with religion and the church, this was borrowed from Greek, the language in which the New Testament was written. The Greek word episkopos, meaning literally "overseer," was first used of officials in government and later came to be used for church leaders. In the Bible the word meaning "bishop" and the word meaning "priest" were used for the same thing. It was not until much later that the bishop did indeed become overseer of a large district, or diocese.
Biographical Definition
Bishop
2 of 2biographical name (2)
J(ohn) Michael 1936– American microbiologist
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