WordWeb Online

1. The male head of family or tribe
   - paterfamilias
    
2. Title for the heads of the Eastern Orthodox Churches (in Istanbul and Alexandria and Moscow and Jerusalem)
    
3. Any of the early biblical characters regarded as fathers of the human race
    
4. A man who is older and higher in rank than yourself

Derived forms: patriarchs

Type of: adult male, bozo [N. Amer, informal], cat [N. Amer, informal], chappie [Brit, informal], father, forefather, geezer [Brit, informal], graybeard [US], greybeard [Brit, Cdn], guy [informal], head of household, hombre [Brit, N. Amer, informal], man, Methuselah, old man, sire, sod [informal], spiritual leader

Encyclopedia: Patriarch