patriarch

patriarch

patriarch. An office or institution in east Asian Buddhism that replicates traditional kinship relations in order to legitimize a teaching lineage. In secular terms, a ‘patriarch’ (Chin., tsu) is the paterfamilias, the eldest male ascendant in an extended family. The line from him to his eldest son and then to his eldest son represents the main line of kinship, while other lines represent collateral lines. In Buddhism, a line that goes from one ‘patriarch’ to the next has, by association with the secular usage, the sense of a main line. This is especially true in schools such as Ch'an and esoteric Buddhism, where the link between master and disciple is especially important in determining one's teaching credentials. In other cases, such as the Pure Land school, where direct contact between master and pupil is not so vital to the transmission of the teachings or practices, the patriarchate may consist simply of those masters who, at various times, have contributed to the advancement or reform of the school. In such cases, it is not necessary that they represent a continuous lineage, only that they form a series of milestones in the tradition's history.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

DAMIEN KEOWN. "patriarch." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

DAMIEN KEOWN. "patriarch." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-patriarch.html

DAMIEN KEOWN. "patriarch." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-patriarch.html

Learn more about citation styles

patriarch

pa·tri·arch / ˈpātrēˌärk/ • n. 1. the male head of a family or tribe. ∎  a man who is the oldest or most venerable of a group: Hollywood's reigning patriarch rose to speak. ∎  a man who behaves in a commanding manner: Cunningham's authoritative energy marks him out as patriarch within his own company. ∎  a person or thing that is regarded as the founder of something: the patriarch of all spin doctors. 2. any of those biblical figures regarded as fathers of the human race, esp. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their forefathers, or the sons of Jacob. 3. the title of a most senior Orthodox or Catholic bishop, in particular: ∎  a bishop of one of the most ancient Christian sees (Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, Jerusalem, and formerly Rome). ∎  the head of an autocephalous or independent Orthodox church. ∎  a Roman Catholic bishop ranking above primates and metropolitans and immediately below the pope, often the head of a Uniate community.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"patriarch." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"patriarch." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-patriarch.html

"patriarch." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-patriarch.html

Learn more about citation styles

Patriarch

PATRIARCH

a leader in an eastern christian church.

By the fourth century c.e., the Christian church was divided into five administrative districts: Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople (now Istanbul), and Rome. Each of these was headed by a bishop called a patriarch. Today, "patriarch" is the title for the head of an Eastern Christian church, such as the Armenian patriarch or the Greek Orthodox patriarch (who still resides in Istanbul).


Bibliography


Deanesly, Margaret. A History of the Medieval Church, 5901500, 9th edition. London: Methuen, 1969.

Shaw, Stanford J., and Shaw, Ezel Kural. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Vol. 2: Reform, Revolution, and Republic: The Rise of Modern Turkey, 18081975. Cambridge, U.K., and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1977.

zachary karabell

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

Karabell, Zachary. "Patriarch." Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Karabell, Zachary. "Patriarch." Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3424602139.html

Karabell, Zachary. "Patriarch." Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3424602139.html

Learn more about citation styles

patriarch

patriarch the male head of a family or tribe; a person regarded as the oldest or most venerable of a group. The name is used particularly to denote any of those biblical figures regarded as fathers of the human race, especially Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their forefathers, or the sons of Jacob.

Patriarch is also used for the title of a most senior Orthodox or Catholic bishop, in particular, a bishop of one of the most ancient Christian sees (Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, Jerusalem, and formerly Rome), and the head of an autocephalous or independent Orthodox Church.

Recorded from Middle English, the word comes via Old French and ecclesiastical Latin from Greek patriarkhēs, from patria ‘family’ + arkhēs ‘ruling’.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "patriarch." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "patriarch." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-patriarch.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "patriarch." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-patriarch.html

Learn more about citation styles

patriarch

patriarch Head of a family or tribe, invested in certain circumstances with the status or authority of a religious leader. In the Old Testament, the term referred either to the ancestors of the human race who lived on Earth before the Flood (as recorded in Genesis 1–11) or more commonly to the ancestors of the ancient Israelites, namely: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob's 12 sons (Genesis 12–50). Since about the 4th century ad, the word has also been used as an ecclesiastic title for a few exalted bishops in the Eastern Christian Church, who rule over large dioceses known as patriarchates.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"patriarch." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"patriarch." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-patriarch.html

"patriarch." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-patriarch.html

Learn more about citation styles

patriarch

patriarch chief of a family or tribe XII; bishop of certain pre-eminent sees XIII; father of an institution XVI; venerable old man XIX. — (O)F. patriarche — ecclL. patriarcha — Gr. patriárkhēs head of a family, f. patriá family, clan (f. patḗr FATHER) + -arkhēs ruler (see -ARCH).
So patriarchal XVI. — late L. patriarchate XVII. — medL. patriarchy †patriarchate XVI; patriarchal government XVII. — medL.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

T. F. HOAD. "patriarch." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "patriarch." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-patriarch.html

T. F. HOAD. "patriarch." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-patriarch.html

Learn more about citation styles

patriarch

patriarch , in biblical tradition, one of the antediluvian progenitors of the race as given in Genesis (e.g., Seth ) or one of the ancestors of the Jews (e.g., Abraham , Isaac , Jacob , and, sometimes, the sons of Jacob). The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is the name of one of the Pseudepigrapha .

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"patriarch." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"patriarch." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-patriar1.html

"patriarch." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-patriar1.html

Learn more about citation styles

patriarch

patriarcharc, ark, Bach, bark, barque, Braque, Clark, clerk, dark, embark, hark, impark, Iraq, Ladakh, Lamarck, lark, macaque, marc, mark, marque, narc, nark, Newark, park, quark, sark, shark, snark, spark, stark, Vlach •matriarch, patriarch •tanbark • ringbark • stringy-bark •Offenbach • ironbark • oligarch •salesclerk • titlark • skylark •meadowlark • woodlark • mudlark •landmark • checkmark • Denmark •benchmark • waymark • trademark •seamark • Bismarck • telemark •tidemark • Kitemark • pockmark •Ostmark • hallmark • Goldmark •Deutschmark • bookmark • footmark •earmark • watermark • birthmark •anarch • car park • skatepark •ballpark •Petrarch, tetrarch •hierarch, squirearch •exarch • Pesach • loan shark •Plutarch • aardvark

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"patriarch." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"patriarch." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-patriarch.html

"patriarch." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-patriarch.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

Patriarch adds $7 million auto supplier to its holdings.(Patriarch Partners...
Magazine article from: Crain's Detroit Business; 2/6/2006
The 'Patriarch of the West' retires.(WORD FROM ROME)
Magazine article from: National Catholic Reporter; 4/7/2006
Patriarch Bartholomew I: Texts and Speeches (1991-1992).(Review)
Magazine article from: Journal of Ecumenical Studies; 6/22/1998

Facts and information from other sites

patriarch images
patriarch. Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)