Where does “Pope” come from?
Pope comes from Russian поп, which derives from English pop, ultimately tracing through multiple English popular forms to an uncertain origin.
Pope (English): Alternative letter-case form of pope
Definitions
- Alternative letter-case form of pope
Ancestry of “Pope”, step by step
Pope traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Russian поп
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russian | поп | priest; pop, popular music; pop art |
| 2 | English | POP | Acronym of point of presence; Acronym of Point of... |
| 3 | English | popular | Common among the general public; generally... |
| 4 | Middle English | populer | Commonly known |
| 5 | Old French | populaire | — |
| 6 | Latin | populāris | popular (by, of or for the people) |
| 7 | Latin | -āris | first conjugation |
| 8 | Latin | -ālis | — |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | -ālis | forms relational adjectives |
via Middle English pope
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | pope | The pope; Another spiritual leader or head |
| 2 | Old English | pāpa | pope |
| 3 | Vulgar Latin | papa | — |
| 4 | Latin | papa | an infant's cry for food; father; bishop |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | παπᾶς | priest |
| 6 | Old Norse | súla | pillar, column |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | sūliz | beam, post; column, pillar |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱsewl- | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱsew- | to scrape, shave, sharpen |