patriarch
/ˈpeɪtɹiˌɑːk/PAY-tree-ahrk
/ˈpeɪtɹiˌɑɹk/PAY-tree-ahrk
Meaningfather ruler
Common meaning: a father who rules a clan or household
- patria fatherLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 1162 · scan
- archa beginning; rule, commandLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 121 · scan
‘a father’ + ‘a beginning’ → patriarch
Journey through time
Only the patri half is traced; the path of arch is not in our sources yet.
- patri — Greek πατήρ, πατρός “a father” (path traced)
- arch — Greek ἀρχή “a beginning; rule, command” (dictionary form; path not traced)
Parts join in Middle English as patriarche.
- Greekπατήρ, πατρός‘a father’
- Middle Englishpatriarchesource
- Englishpatriarch‘a father who rules a clan or household’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek πατήρ ‘a father’ + Greek ἀρχή ‘a beginning; rule, command’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry ἀρχή, p. 121 · dictionary scan
Roots
- πατήρ, πατρός Greek “a father”
- ἀρχή Greek “a beginning; rule, command”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app