pontifex

Borrowed from Latin pontifex.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒn.təˌfɛks/, /ˈpɒn.tɪˌfɛks/
• Hyphenation: pon‧ti‧fex

pontifex (plural pontifices)

1. (historical) A pontiff, or high priest, in Ancient Rome.

Often interpreted as a compound originally meaning “bridge-maker”, from pōns (“bridge”) +‎ -fex (“suffix representing a maker or producer”), either metaphorically “one who negotiates between gods and men” or literally if at some point the social class which supplied the priests was more or less identical with engineers that were responsible for building bridges.

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpon.ti.feks/, [ˈpɔn.tɪ.fɛks]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpon.ti.feks/

pontifex m (genitive pontificis); third declension

1. a high priest, State minister in ancient Rome
2. a pontiff or bishop of the early Christian church, now specifically the Pope

Third declension.

• pontificālis
• pontificātus
• pontificium
• pontificius

• pontifex in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• pontifex in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• pontifex in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• pontifex in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• pontifex in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• pontifex in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• pontifex in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, page 480

From Latin pontifex.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpo̞ntife̞ks/

pontifex m (genitive singular pontifika, nominative plural pontifikovia, genitive plural pontifikov, declension pattern of chlap)

1. a high priest in ancient Rome
2. a pontiff or bishop of the early Christian church, now specifically the Pope

• pontifex in Slovak dictionaries at korpus.sk