pope

The word “pope” means the bishop of Rome, head of the Roman Catholic Church. In plain terms, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

“Pope” is pronounced pohp (/poʊp/ in IPA).

Here is “pope” used in a sentence: “The pope addressed thousands of pilgrims in the square.”

Words with a similar meaning to “pope” include Bishop of Rome, Patriarch of Rome, Vicar of Christ, Bishop of Alexandria and Patriarch of Alexandria.

“Pope” is a noun.

The word “pope” comes from Vulgar Latin. From Old English pāpa, from Vulgar Latin papa, ultimately from Greek pápas, "father.".

“Pope” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Pope” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: the bishop of Rome, head of the Roman Catholic Church.

A bishop is a senior member of the clergy who oversees a diocese. The pope is the bishop of Rome, and as bishop of Rome he is the head of the whole Roman Catholic Church. So the pope is a bishop, but one with authority over the entire church.

Capitalize pope when it is used as a title directly before a name: Pope Francis. When it stands alone as an ordinary noun — "the pope visited Ireland" — most modern style guides lowercase it, though some publications, particularly religious ones, capitalize it in all uses.

Yes. Although pope most often refers to the bishop of Rome, the title is also used for the heads of certain other churches, most notably the Coptic Orthodox Church, whose leader is the pope of Alexandria.

Pontiff is another word for the pope, referring to the same office. It appears mainly in journalism and formal writing, often to avoid repeating the word pope: "the pontiff addressed the crowd."