pontiff, pont if, pontife

[O. Fr. pont if, pontife (Fr. pontife ), from Lat. pontificem, acc us. of pontifex the bridge-builder: supposed to be so styled from the Roman pontifices having the charge of the Sublician Bridge in Rome, to which a sacred character was attached; Sp. pontifice; Ital. pontefice.] [PONTIFEX.] 1. A Roman pontifex. "But it would be a very great mistake to imagine that one single Pontiff or Augur in the Roman Senate was a firm believer in Jupiter." -Macaulay : Hist . Eng . , ch. xili. 2. The high-priest of the Jews. 3. The Pope; usually the Sovereign Pontiff. pon-tif'-Ic, *pon-tif'-Ick, a . [Lat. pontific i us from pontifex (gen it. pontific is ).] [PONTIFEX.] 1. Pertaining or relating to the Roman pontiffs or priests. "Their twelve tables and the pontifick college." -Milton: Areopagitica. 2. Pertaining or relating to the pope; papal, popish. pon-tif'-Ic-al, *pon-tif'-ic-all, a . & s . [French pontifical , from Lat. pontifical is , from pontifex (gen it. pontific is )=a pontifex (q. v.); Sp. & Port. pontifical ; Ital. pontific ale .] IMG:content-1318.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-1319.png:[blocks in formation] Bot .: Pontederads; an order of Endogens, alliance Alisma les. Aquatic or marsh plants, leaves sheathing at the base, with parallel veins, often arrow-headed, cordate, or dilated; flowers solitary or in spikes or umbels; perianth tubular, six-parted, more or le irregular, with a circinate æstivation; capsule sometimes adhering to the perianth, three celled, seeds indefinite. Natives of America, the East Indies, and tropical Africa. Known genera six, species thirty.