ἀρχιερεύς

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ἀρχείρευς (arkheíreus) — Aeolic
• ἀρχιέρεως (arkhiéreōs) — Ionic
• ἀρχίρευς (arkhíreus)

Etymology

From ἀρχι- (arkhi-, “chief”) +‎ ἱερεύς (hiereús, “priest”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ar.kʰi.e.rěu̯s/ → /ar.çi.eˈreɸs/ → /ar.çi.eˈrefs/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ar.kʰi.e.rěu̯s/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ar.kʰi.eˈrews/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ar.çi.eˈreɸs/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ar.çi.eˈrefs/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ar.çi.eˈrefs/

Noun

ἀρχιερεύς • (arkhiereús) m (genitive ἀρχιερέως); third declension

1. chief priest, high priest

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ ἀρχιερεύς; τοῦ ἀρχιερέως (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ἀρχιερεύς ho arkhiereús	τὼ ἀρχιερῆ tṑ arkhierê	οἱ ἀρχιερῆς / ἀρχιερεῖς hoi arkhierês / arkhiereîs
Genitive	τοῦ ἀρχιερέως toû arkhieréōs	τοῖν ἀρχιερέοιν toîn arkhieréoin	τῶν ἀρχιερέων tôn arkhieréōn
Dative	τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ tôi arkhiereî	τοῖν ἀρχιερέοιν toîn arkhieréoin	τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσῐ / ἀρχιερεῦσῐν toîs arkhiereûsi(n)
Accusative	τὸν ἀρχιερέᾱ tòn arkhieréā	τὼ ἀρχιερῆ tṑ arkhierê	τοὺς ἀρχιερέᾱς toùs arkhieréās
Vocative	ἀρχιερεῦ arkhiereû	ἀρχιερῆ arkhierê	ἀρχιερῆς / ἀρχιερεῖς arkhierês / arkhiereîs
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → Coptic: ⲁⲣⲭⲓⲉⲣⲉⲩⲥ (arkhiereus)
• → Gothic: 𐌿𐍆𐌰𐍂𐌲𐌿𐌳𐌾𐌰 (ufargudja) (calque) (uncertain)
• → Russian: архиерей (arxijerej)
  • → Ingrian: arhirei
  • → Yup'ik: allgiliyaq

Further reading

• “ἀρχιερεύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀρχιερεύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἀρχιερεύς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• ἀρχιερεύς in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• G749 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • pontifex idem, page 626.