Pontiff
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Pontiff is a title of certain religious leaders, now used principally to refer to the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.
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[edit] Etymology
The term derives from the French word pontife, from the Latin pontifex, a title used for high priests of the Roman Empire. The word pontifex is commonly held to derive from the Latin root words pons, "bridge" + facere, "to do" or "to make", with a literal meaning of "bridge-builder". This, however, is disputed - it may be only a folk etymology [1]. See Pontifex for more details on the original Roman term.
[edit] Usage
Pontiffs were originally simply chiefs or high priests of any religion; thus writers from the 16th through to the 18th centuries referred equally to Christian pontiffs (bishops) and "Mahometan [Muslim] Pontiffs" (caliphs). Over time, however, the term became associated with the highest religious authority in the Catholic Church, the Pope. It was often modified by an adjective - for instance, "Supreme Pontiff', "Sovereign Pontiff' or "Roman Pontiff' - to distinguish the Pope from "ordinary" pontiffs. [1] In the modern era, the modifying adjective is usually dropped, with the term being used exclusively to refer to the Pope.
