bishop

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A high-ranking Christian cleric, in modern churches usually in charge of a diocese and in some churches regarded as having received the highest ordination in unbroken succession from the apostles.
2. n. Games A usually miter-shaped chess piece that can move diagonally across any number of unoccupied spaces.
3. n. Mulled port spiced with oranges, sugar, and cloves.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. An overseer: once applied to Christ in the New Testament.
2. n. In the earliest usage of the Christian church, a spiritual overseer, whether of a local church or of a number of churches; a ruler or director in the church. See elder and presbyter.
3. n. From an early time, an overseer over a number of local churches; particularly, in the Greek, Oriental, Roman Catholic, and Anglican churches, the title of the highest order in the ministry. See episcopacy. The origin of the office of bishop in the Christian church is a matter of dispute. The terms bishop and presbyter appear to be used interchangeably in the New Testament; but those who support the episcopal form of government maintain that while these terms were not yet limited to their later meanings a difference of rank was indicated by them, that the office of the apostles, as overseers over the local churches and their pastors, was episcopal in its nature, and that the term bishop is appropriately used to designate those whom they ordained as their successors in an office which was intended to be permanent; while those who reject the episcopal form of government hold that the apostolic office was purely personal, and that the apostles had not and could not have successors. The Roman Catholic Church, the Greek and other Oriental churches, and the Anglican Church claim an unbroken succession of bishops from apostolic times. Moravian bishops also claim an unbroken episcopal succession, but exercise jurisdiction not as diocesans, but jointly. The first Methodist superintendent, the title afterward superseded by bishop, was ordained by Wesley in 1784. (See itinerant bishop.) In the Greek, Oriental, and Roman Catholic churches, the different grades of the office, besides simple or ordinary bishop, are archbishop, metropolitan, primate, exarch, and patriarch; these were ecclesiastically instituted for convenience of government. (See pope.) The Anglican Church also has archbishops and metropolitans. By virtue of concordats, the nomination of Roman Catholic bishops is sometimes made by the temporal power; the former election by the clergy remains in some cathedral chapters, but more commonly names are proposed by the fellow-suffragans and metropolitan, and by the clergy of the diocese to be provided for, to the Pope, who directly appoints and in any case confirms the new bishop. In England bishops are nominated by the sovereign, who, upon request of the dean and chapter for leave to elect a bishop, sends a congé d'élire, or license to elect, with a letter missive, nominating the person whom he would have chosen. The election, by the chapter, must be made within twelve days, or the sovereign has a right to appoint whom he pleases. In the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States the bishops are elected by the clergy and laity. Bishops are said to be consecrated rather than ordained. Enthronization is the solemn installation following the consecration. A bishop changed from one see to another is said to be translated; the church containing his cathedra or episcopal throne is called cathedral, and the local jurisdiction indicated by this throne, and the city or locality in which this stands, together with the diocese or territory attached to it, his see, to which he is said to be wedded, and which is widowed when deprived of him. This relation is symbolized by the bishop's ring, which in the Western Church is a part of the insignia of his office, together with the miter, staff, and cross. To this office also are applied the term pontiff and its derivatives. Twenty-four of the English bishops and the two archbishops are peers of the realm, with seats in the House of Lords, and certain political and judicial or quasi-judicial functions. In the Mormon Church the bishop is an officer of the Aaronic or lesser priesthood, presides over it, ministers in outward ordinances, conducts the temporal business of the church, and acts as judge on transgressors. Often abbreviated Bp. See chorepiscopus and vicar apostolic.
4. n. A name formerly given to a chief priest of any religion.
5. n. A name given in the United States about 1850 to a woman's bustle.
6. n. A hot drink made with bitter oranges, cloves, and port wine.
7. n. In entomology: A name of various heteropterous hemipterous insects, also called bishop's-miters. They injure fruit by piercing it, and emit an intolerable odor.
8. n. A name of the lady-birds, the small beetles of the family Coccinellidæ.
9. n. One of the pieces or men in chess, having its upper part carved into the shape of a miter. Formerly called archer. See chess.
10. n. A bishop in relation to his comprovincial bishops and their archbishop or metropolitan. This title is used of the other bishops of the Church of England in relation to the archbishops.
11. To administer the rite of confirmation to; admit solemnly into the church; confirm.
12. To confirm (anything) formally.
13. To appoint to the office of bishop.
14. To let (milk, etc.) burn while cooking: in allusion to the proverb, “The bishop has put his foot in it.”
15. [Supposed to be from Bishop, the name of a horse-dealer.] In farriery, to make (an old horse) look like a young one, or to give a good appearance to (a bad horse) in order to deceive purchasers.
16. [From a man named Bishop, who in 1831 drowned a boy in order to sell his body for dissection. Cf. burke.] To murder by drowning.

Wiktionary

1. n. A high ranking official in the Catholic church who governs a diocese, or a similar official in other denominations and religions. (Occasionally abbreviated as Bp. when used as a title.)
2. n. chess A piece that may be moved only diagonally.
3. n. slang penis (see bash the bishop).
4. n. slang sex toy.
5. v. transitive, obsolete To make (a horse) seem younger, by cutting its teeth short, then scooping out an oval cavity in the corner nippers and burning it black with a hot iron.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A spiritual overseer, superintendent, or director.
2. n. In the Roman Catholic, Greek, and Anglican or Protestant Episcopal churches, one ordained to the highest order of the ministry, superior to the priesthood, and generally claiming to be a successor of the Apostles. The bishop is usually the spiritual head or ruler of a diocese, bishopric, or see.
3. n. In the Methodist Episcopal and some other churches, one of the highest church officers or superintendents.
4. n. A piece used in the game of chess, bearing a representation of a bishop's miter; -- formerly called archer.
5. n. A beverage, being a mixture of wine, oranges or lemons, and sugar.
6. n. United States An old name for a woman's bustle.
7. v. To admit into the church by confirmation; to confirm; hence, to receive formally to favor.
8. v. (Far.) To make seem younger, by operating on the teeth.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. (chess) a piece that can be moved diagonally over unoccupied squares of the same color
2. n. port wine mulled with oranges and cloves
3. n. a senior member of the Christian clergy having spiritual and administrative authority; appointed in Christian churches to oversee priests or ministers; considered in some churches to be successors of the twelve Apostles of Christ