patriarch

 
Pronunciation: /ˈpeɪtrɪɑːk/

noun

  • 1the male head of a family or tribe.
  • an older man who is powerful within an organization: Hollywood’s reigning patriarch rose to speak
  • the male founder of something: he’s the patriarch of all spin doctors
  • 2any of those biblical figures regarded as fathers of the human race, especially Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their forefathers, or the sons of Jacob.
  • 3a 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: Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
  • a Roman Catholic bishop ranking above primates and metropolitans and immediately below the Pope, often the head of a Uniate community: Patriarch of Venice

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French patriarche, via ecclesiastical Latin from Greek patriarkhēs, from patria 'family' + arkhēs 'ruling'