1. A clergyman having spiritual and administrative authority; appointed in some Christian churches to oversee priests or ministers; considered in some churches to be successors of the twelve apostles of Christ.
2. A senior Christian cleric; especially, in the Roman Catholic, Episcopal, and Orthodox churches, who is in charge (overseer) of the spiritual life and administration of a particular region.
3. Etymology: Old English bisceop, from Late Latin episcopus; from Greek episkopos, "watcher, overseer"; a title for various government officials, later taken over in a church sense; from epi-, "over" + skopos, "watcher"; from skeptesthai, "to look at".