n.[C]

1. 家长；族长
2. （宗教、企业等的）创始人，元老
   the patriarch of steam engines

   蒸汽机的创始人

3. 德高望重的老人
4. 一群人中的最年长者
5. （早期基督教的）主教；（罗马天主教和东正教的）最高一级的主教

n.

1. the male head of a family or tribe.
   ▸an older man who is powerful within a family or organization.
   ▸a founder.
2. a biblical figure regarded as a father of the human race, especially Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their forefathers, or the sons of Jacob.
3. a bishop of one of the most ancient Christian sees (Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, Jerusalem, and formerly Rome).
   ▸the head of an autocephalous Orthodox Church.
   ▸a Roman Catholic bishop ranking above primates and metropolitans and immediately below the Pope.