Definition of "archpriest" []

• Used formerly as a title for a priest holding first rank among the members of a cathedral chapter, acting as chief assistant to a bishop. (noun)
• An honorific title applied to a priest, which may be accompanied by a specific function. (noun)
• Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church The highest rank a married priest can hold. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Roughly the titles archpriest (archipresbyteros), protopriest (protoiereus, protopresbyteros), protopope (protopapas) may be taken as meaning; the same thing, though they have occasionally been distinguished."
• "[4] Arnaud de Cervolles, one of the most celebrated adventurers of the 14th century, called the archpriest because though a layman he possessed the ecclesiastical fief of Vélines."
• "Vaudenay; and the lord Arnold of Cervolles, called the archpriest, [4] was armed in the armour of the young earl of Alençon."