Patriarch
<p >Originally, a <b>patriarch</b> was a man who exercised <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autocracy" title="Autocracy" >autocratic</a> authority as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pater_familias" title="Pater familias" >pater familias</a> over an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_family" title="Extended family" >extended family</a>. The system of such rule of families by senior males is termed <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchy" title="Patriarchy" >patriarchy</a></b>. This is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language" title="Greek language" >Greek</a> word, a compound of πατριά (<i>patria</i>), "lineage, progeny", esp. by the father's side<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarch#cite_note-0" >[1]</a></sup> (which derives from the word πατήρ – <i>patēr</i> meaning "father"<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarch#cite_note-1" >[2]</a></sup>) and ἄρχων (<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archon" title="Archon" >archon</a></i>) meaning "leader", "chief", "ruler", "king", etc.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarch#cite_note-2" >[3]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarch#cite_note-3" >[4]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarch#cite_note-4" >[5]</a></sup>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham" title="Abraham" >Abraham</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac" title="Isaac" >Isaac</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob" title="Jacob" >Jacob</a> are referred to as the three <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchs_(Bible)" title="Patriarchs (Bible)" >patriarchs</a> of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelite" title="Israelite" class="mw-redirect" >people of Israel</a>, and the period during which they lived is termed the<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchal_Age" title="Patriarchal Age" class="mw-redirect" >Patriarchal Age</a>. It originally acquired its religious meaning in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septuagint" title="Septuagint" >Septuagint</a> version of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible" title="Bible" >Bible</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarch#cite_note-5" >[6]</a></sup>
The word has acquired specific ecclesiastical meanings. In particular, the highest-ranking <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop" title="Bishop" >bishops</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodoxy" title="Eastern Orthodoxy" class="mw-redirect" >Eastern Orthodoxy</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_Orthodoxy" title="Oriental Orthodoxy" >Oriental Orthodoxy</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Church" title="Roman Catholic Church" class="mw-redirect" >Roman Catholic Church</a> (above <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Archbishop" title="Major Archbishop" class="mw-redirect" >Major Archbishop</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primate_(religion)" title="Primate (religion)" class="mw-redirect" >Primate</a>), and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_Church_of_the_East" title="Assyrian Church of the East" >Assyrian Church of the East</a> are termed <i>Patriarchs</i>. The office and ecclesiastical circumscription (comprising one or more provinces, though outside his own (arch)diocese he is often without enforceable jurisdiction) of such a Patriarch is termed a <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchate" title="Patriarchate" >Patriarchate</a></i>. Historically, a Patriarch may often be the logical choice to act as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnarch" title="Ethnarch" >Ethnarch</a>, representing the community that is identified with his religious confession within a state or empire of a different creed (as Christians within the<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire" title="Ottoman Empire" >Ottoman Empire</a>).</p>
<p>
<b>Patriarch</b> can refer to:</p>
<ul >
<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarch" title="Patriarch" >Patriarch</a>, the highest-ranking bishops of the autocephalous churches in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Assyrian Church of the East</li>
<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchs_(Bible)" title="Patriarchs (Bible)" >Patriarchs (Bible)</a>, prominent figures in the Hebrew scriptures, especially Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob</li>
<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarch_(Latter_Day_Saints)" title="Patriarch (Latter Day Saints)" >Patriarch (Latter Day Saints)</a>, the Melchizedek Priesthood office in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that is called evangelist in the New Testament</li>
<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangharaja" title="Sangharaja" >Sangharaja</a>, often translated as <i>Supreme Patriarch</i>, is a title given to senior <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theravada" title="Theravada" >Theravada</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism" title="Buddhism" >Buddhist</a> monks in certain countries.</li>
<li >In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism" title="Buddhism" >Buddhism</a>, a patriarch is a historic teacher who transferred the teachings (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language" title="Chinese language" >Chinese</a>: 祖; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin" title="Pinyin" >pinyin</a>: <em>zǔ</em>; literally "ancestor"), see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lineage_(Buddhism)" title="Lineage (Buddhism)" >Lineage (Buddhism)</a>.</li>
<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasi" title="Nasi" >Nasi</a>, the head of the Supreme Court (Sanhedrin) of Israel from 191 BCE to 425 CE.</li>
<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociology" title="Sociology" >Sociology</a>: The leader of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchy" title="Patriarchy" >patriarchy</a>, a system of power where males predominate</li>
</ul>
<p ><b>In fiction</b></p>
<ul >
<li ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kzinti_Patriarch" title="Kzinti Patriarch" >Kzinti Patriarch</a></li>
</ul>
<p ><b>Other uses</b></p>
<ul >
<li >A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper" title="Clipper" >clipper</a> owned by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aberdeen_White_Star_Line&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Aberdeen White Star Line (page does not exist)" >Aberdeen White Star Line</a></li>
</ul>
<p ><b>In Video Games</b></p>
<ul >
<li >The boss on wave 11 on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Floor_(2009_video_game)" title="Killing Floor (2009 video game)" >Killing Floor</a></li>
</ul>
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