pope

noun

ˈpōp 

1

often Pope : a prelate who as bishop of Rome is the head of the Roman Catholic Church

2

: one that resembles a pope (as in authority)

3

a

: the Eastern Orthodox or Coptic patriarch of Alexandria

b

: a priest of an Eastern church

Examples of pope in a Sentence

The cardinals elected a new pope.

Recent Examples on the Web

The pope, adorably, joined Twitter, and the queen was Zooming all over the place. — Matt Carlstrom, Vanity Fair, 14 Aug. 2026

When Doyle returned to the dugout, teammate Chase Meidroth placed a pope hat on his head. — Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 14 Aug. 2026

Take a look The White Sox's papal play Pope Leo XIV got a tribute Tuesday night when the White Sox hosted the Cincinnati Reds, as over 40,000 pope hats were handed out to fans and even players. — Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2026

The pope especially wanted to avoid having tech firms establish the ethics for artificial intelligence. — Yonat Shimron, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English pāpa, from Late Latin papa, from Greek pappas, papas, title of bishops, literally, papa

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for pope

• cope
• dope
• grope
• lope
• mope
• nope
• rope
• scope
• shope
• slope
• soap
• stope

Kids Definition

pope

noun

ˈpōp 

often capitalized

: the head of the Roman Catholic Church

Biographical Definition

Pope 1 of 2

biographical name (1)

ˈpōp 

Alexander 1688–1744 English poet

Popian

ˈpō-pē-ən 

adjective

or less commonly Popean

Pope

2 of 2

biographical name (2)

John 1822–1892 American general