episcopus

Latin

Alternative forms

Reconstruction:Latin/biscopu

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos, “overseer”), from ἐπί (epí, “over”) + σκοπός (skopós, “watcher, lookout, guardian”).

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /eˈpis.ko.pus/, [ɛˈpɪs̠kɔpʊs̠]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /eˈpis.ko.pus/, [eˈpiskopus]

Noun

episcopus m (genitive episcopī); second declension

(Late Latin) overseer, supervisor, bishop (in a Christian church who governs a diocese)

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	episcopus	episcopī
genitive	episcopī	episcopōrum
dative	episcopō	episcopīs
accusative	episcopum	episcopōs
ablative	episcopō	episcopīs
vocative	episcope	episcopī

Derived terms

episcopātus

Descendants

Dalmatian: pascu
Eastern Romance:
- Romanian: piscup
Franco-Provençal: èvèque
Gallo-Italic:
- Piedmontese: vëscu
Italo-Romance:
- Italian: vescovo
- Neapolitan: piscopo
- Sicilian: viscuvu, viscu
Old French: evesque
- Middle French: evesque
  - French: évêque
    - Haitian Creole: evèk
    - → Khmer: អេវ៉េគ (ʼeeveek)
    - → Malagasy: eveka
- → Old Occitan: evesque, avesque, vesque
  - Occitan: avesque
Old Occitan: bisbe
- Catalan: bisbe
Rhaeto-Romance:
- Friulian: vescul
- Romansch: uvestg
Sardinian: obíscu
Venetan: vescovo, vesco
West Iberian:
- Old Leonese:
  - Asturian: obispu
- Old Galician-Portuguese: bispo
  - Galician: bispo
  - Portuguese: bispo
- Old Spanish:
  - Spanish: obispo (see there for further descendants)
→ Albanian: ipeshkv, peshkop, upeshk
→ Celtic borrowings
- Proto-Brythonic: *eskob (see there for further descendants)
- Old Irish: epscop (see there for further descendants)
→ Italian: episcopo
→ Portuguese: epíscopo
→ unsorted borrowings
- Estonian: piiskop
- Hungarian: püspök (via Germanic or Slavic)
- Latvian: bīskaps
- Lithuanian: vyskupas
- Old Prussian: bīskups
- Samoan: 'epikopō
- Slovene: škof
- Yiddish: ביסקופּ (biskup)
⇒ Latin: *biscopu
- → Old Church Slavonic: бискоупъ (biskupŭ) (see there for further descendants)
- → Old Dutch: biskop
  - Middle Dutch: bischop
    - Dutch: bisschop (see there for further descendants)
- → Old English: bisċop, bisċeop
  - Middle English: bischop, bisschop, bisshop, byschop, bishup, busshop, bushop, busschop, bysshop, bissop, biscop, bisscopp
    - English: bishop (see there for further descendants)
    - Scots: bishop
  - → Old Norse: biskup
    - Icelandic: biskup
    - Faroese: biskupur
    - Norwegian Bokmål: biskop, bisp
    - Norwegian Nynorsk: biskop, bisp
    - Old Swedish: biskoper, biskuper
      - Swedish: biskop
      - → Finnish: piispa
    - Danish: biskop
- → Old Frisian: biskop
  - Saterland Frisian: Biskop
  - West Frisian: biskop
- → Old High German: biscof (see there for further descendants)