episcopus

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos, “overseer”), from ἐπί (epí, “over”) + σκοπός (skopós, “watcher, lookout, guardian”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /eˈpis.ko.pus/, [ɛˈpɪs̠kɔpʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /eˈpis.ko.pus/, [eˈpiskopus]

Noun

episcopus m (genitive episcopī); second declension

1. (Late Latin) overseer, supervisor, bishop (in a Christian church who governs a diocese)

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	episcopus	episcopī
Genitive	episcopī	episcopōrum
Dative	episcopō	episcopīs
Accusative	episcopum	episcopōs
Ablative	episcopō	episcopīs
Vocative	episcope	episcopī

Derived terms

• antiepiscopus
• archepiscopālis
• archepiscopus
• archiepiscopālis
• archiepiscopus
• episcopālis

 

Descendants

• Dalmatian: pascu
• Eastern Romance:
  • Romanian: piscup
• Franco-Provençal: èvèque
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Piedmontese: vëscu
• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: vescovo
  • Neapolitan: piscopo
  • Sicilian: viscuvu, viscu
• Old French: evesque
  • Middle French: evesque
    • French: évêque
      • Haitian Creole: evèk
      • → Khmer: អេវ៉េគ (ʼeeveek)
      • → Malagasy: eveka
  • → Old Occitan: evesque, avesque, vesque
    • Occitan: avesque
• Old Occitan: bisbe
  • Catalan: bisbe
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Friulian: vescul
  • Romansch: uvestg
• Sardinian: obíscu
• Venetian: vescovo, vesco
• West Iberian:
  • Old Leonese:
    • Asturian: obispu
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: bispo
    • Galician: bispo
    • Portuguese: bispo
  • Old Spanish:
    • Spanish: obispo (see there for further descendants)
• → Albanian: ipeshkv, peshkop, upeshk
• → Celtic borrowings
  • Proto-Brythonic: *eskob (see there for further descendants)
  • Old Irish: epscop (see there for further descendants)
• → Italian: episcopo
• → Portuguese: epíscopo
• → unsorted borrowings
  • Estonian: piiskop
  • Hungarian: püspök (via Germanic or Slavic)
  • Latvian: bīskaps
  • Lithuanian: vyskupas
  • Old Prussian: bīskups
  • Samoan: 'epikopō
  • Slovene: škof
  • Yiddish: ביסקופּ (biskup)
• ⇒ Latin: *biscopu
  • → Old Church Slavonic: бискоупъ (biskupŭ) (see there for further descendants)
  • → Old Dutch: biskop
    • Middle Dutch: bischop
      • Dutch: bisschop (see there for further descendants)
  • → Old English: bisċop, bisċeop
    • Middle English: bischop, bisschop, bisshop, byschop, bishup, busshop, bushop, busschop, bysshop, bissop, biscop, bisscopp
      • English: bishop (see there for further descendants)
      • Scots: bishop
    • → Old Norse: biskup
      • Icelandic: biskup
      • Faroese: biskupur
      • Norwegian Bokmål: biskop, bisp
      • Norwegian Nynorsk: biskop, bisp
      • Old Swedish: biskoper, biskuper
        • Swedish: biskop
        • → Finnish: piispa
      • Danish: biskop
  • → Old Frisian: biskop
    • Saterland Frisian: Biskop
    • West Frisian: biskop
  • → Old High German: biscof (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “episcopus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• episcopus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• episcopus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.