— bishopless , adj. — bishoplike , adj.
/bish"euhp/ , n. , v. , bishoped, bishoping .
n.
1. a person who supervises a number of local churches or a diocese, being in the Greek, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other churches a member of the highest order of the ministry.
2. a spiritual supervisor, overseer, or the like.
3. Chess. one of two pieces of the same color that may be moved any unobstructed distance diagonally, one on white squares and the other on black.
4. a hot drink made of port wine, oranges, cloves, etc.
5. Also called bishop bird . any of several colorful African weaverbirds of the genus Euplectes, often kept as pets.
v.t.
6. to appoint to the office of bishop.
[ bef. 900; ME; OE bisc ( e ) op ebiscopus, for LL episcopus epískopos overseer, equiv. to epi- EPI- + skopós watcher; see SCOPE ]