ARCHIMANDRITE, the superior of a monastery; amounting to what we now call abbot. See ABBOT, SUPERIOR, etc.
Covarrubias observes, that the word literally denotes the chief or leader of a flock; in which sense it may be applied to any ecclesiastical superior: Accordingly, we findthe name sometimes attributed to archbishops. But among the Greeks, where it is chiefly used, it is restrained to the chief of an abbey. M. Simon maintains the word originally derived fromthe Syriac; at least the part Mendrite, which by a circumlocution, he makes to signify a solitary or monk.
ARCHIMANDRITE
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- Written by: Ephraïm Chambers
- Category: Unclassified