patriarch

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
patriarch /ˈpeɪtrɪɑːk/

▶noun

• 1 the male head of a family or tribe.

  ■ an older man who is powerful within a family or organization.

  ■ a founder.

• 2 a biblical figure regarded as a father of the human race, especially Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their forefathers, or the sons of Jacob.

• 3 a bishop of one of the most ancient Christian sees (Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, Jerusalem, and formerly Rome).

  ■ the head of an autocephalous Orthodox Church.

  ■ a Roman Catholic bishop ranking above primates and metropolitans and immediately below the Pope.

– derivatives
patriarchate noun.

– origin ME: from OFr. patriarche, via eccles. L. from Gk patriarkhēs, from patria ‘family’ + arkhēs ‘ruling’.