1. (

• patriarch ,

) title for the heads of the Eastern Orthodox Churches (in Istanbul and Alexandria and Moscow and Jerusalem) ;

2. (

• patriarch ,
• paterfamilias

) the male head of family or tribe ;

3. (

• patriarch ,

) any of the early biblical characters regarded as fathers of the human race ;

4. (

• patriarch ,

) a man who is older and higher in rank than yourself ;