pontificate

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun

The status or term of office of a pontiff or pontifex.

verb

To preside as a bishop, especially at mass.
To act like a pontiff; to express one's position or opinions dogmatically and pompously as if they were absolutely correct.
To speak in a patronizing, supercilious or pompous manner, especially at length.

Pronunciation

/pɒnˈtɪf.ɪ.kət/ /pɔnˈtɪf.ə.kət/ /pɔnˈtɪf.ɪ.kət/ en-us-pontificate_noun.ogg en-au-pontificate.ogg /pɒnˈtɪf.ɪ.keɪt/ /pɔnˈtɪf.ə.keɪt/ /pɔnˈtɪf.ɪ.keɪt/ en-us-pontificate.ogg

Word forms

pontificate pontificates pontificating pontificated

Etymology

From Latin pontificatus, from pontifex (“high priest”), from pons (“bridge”) + facere (“make”).

Derived words

pontificatingly pontificator

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

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