# pope

> English word · Noun · IPA /pəʊp/ · frequency rank #3,776

## Definitions
1. An honorary title of the Roman Catholic bishop of Rome as father and head of his church, a sovereign of the Vatican city state.
2. An honorary title of the Roman Catholic bishop of Rome as father and head of his church, a sovereign of the Vatican city state.
3. An honorary title of the Roman Catholic bishop of Rome as father and head of his church, a sovereign of the Vatican city state.
4. An honorary title of the Roman Catholic bishop of Rome as father and head of his church, a sovereign of the Vatican city state.
5. An honorary title of the Roman Catholic bishop of Rome as father and head of his church, a sovereign of the Vatican city state.
6. An honorary title of the Roman Catholic bishop of Rome as father and head of his church, a sovereign of the Vatican city state.
7. An honorary title of the Coptic bishop of Alexandria as father and head of his church.
8. An honorary title of the Orthodox bishop of Alexandria as father and head of his autocephalous church.
9. Any bishop of the early Christian church.
10. The ruffe, a small Eurasian freshwater fish (Gymnocephalus cernua); others of its genus.
11. The Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica).
12. The painted bunting (Passerina ciris).
13. The red-cowled cardinal (Paroaria dominicana).
14. Garlic, when used in addition to the Holy Trinity of celery, bell peppers and onions.

## Etymology
From Middle English pope, popa, from Old English pāpa, from Vulgar Latin papa (title for priests and bishops, esp. and by 8th c. only the bishop of Rome), from early Byzantine Greek παπᾶς (papâs, title for priests and bishops, especially by 3rd c. the bishop of Alexandria), from late Ancient Greek πάπας (pápas, title for priests and bishops, in the sense of spiritual father), from πάππας (páppas, “papa, daddy”).

## Easily confused with
- **PP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-pp)
- **pot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-pot)
- **pos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-pos)
- **ppl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-ppl)
- **pup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-pup)
- **POW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-pow)
- **POV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-pov)
- **PPP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-ppp)
- **PSP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-psp)
- **ppm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-ppm)
- **PPG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-ppg)
- **PvP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-pvp)
- **pox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-pox)
- **PPI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-ppi)
- **PPS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-pps)
- **PPE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-ppe)
- **ppd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-ppd)
- **PPT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-ppt)
- **pye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-pye)
- **PPA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pope-vs-ppa)

## Common misspellings (5)
`oppe`, `poep`, `poppe`, `ppoe`, `ppope`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/pope