Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to the pontifices of ancient Rome.
  • Of or pertaining to a pope; papal.
  • Of or relating to a bridge.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Relating to, or consisting of, pontiffs or priests.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to the pope; papal.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Relating to, or consisting of, pontiffs or priests.
  • adjective Of or relating to the pope; papal.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Compare Latin pontificius.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word pontific.

Examples

  • ALLEN: Well, the Vatican's normal rhythm is, they open the records from one pontific, from one papal reign, all at once, and normally, they do it 70 years after the death of the pope in question.

    CNN Transcript Feb 16, 2003 2003

  • Luckless man that I am! said the notary, to be the sport of hurricanes all my days: - to be born to have the storm of ill language levell'd against me and my profession wherever I go; to be forced into marriage by the thunder of the church to a tempest of a woman; - to be driven forth out of my house by domestic winds, and despoil'd of my castor by pontific ones!

    A Sentimental Journey 1766

  • Luckless man that I am! said the notary, to be the sport of hurricanes all my days: -- to be born to have the storm of ill language levell'd against me and my profession wherever I go; to be forced into marriage by the thunder of the church to a tempest of a woman; -- to be driven forth out of my house by domestic winds, and despoil'd of my castor by pontific ones!

    A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy Laurence Sterne 1740

  • The bending arcb vrith high pontific pride Overhung the gloomy gulph from fide to fide; llie Mantuan there his cumbrous load refign'd*

    A Translation of the Inferno of Dante Alighieri, in English Verse: With ... 1785

  • cheeter for texas holdum kitchen pontific grinder?

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Thanks to Vdare.com 2004

  • aphrodisiacs thatwork primrose exhausted pontific.affricate

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Rights and corporations: 2004

  • The poor notary cross’d the bridge, and passing along the Rue de Dauphine into the fauxbourg of St. Germain, lamented himself as he walk’d along in this manner: Luckless man that I am! said the notary, to be the sport of hurricanes all my days—to be born to have the storm of ill language level’d against me and my profession wherever I go—to be forced into marriage by the thunder of the church to a tempest of a woman—to be driven forth out of my house by domestic winds, and despoil’d of my castor by pontific ones—to be here, bareheaded, in a windy night at the mercy of the ebbs and flows of accidents—where am I to lay my head?

    59. The Fragment. Paris 1917

  • There was a time one heard some of our more pontific commentators pronounce: “We got our independence too easily.

    War On Terrorism Handled Wrongly 2007

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.