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παπά

priest (as addressed or referred to: 'the priest', 'Father') /paˈpa/

nounC1#3743 most common

Also: Father (form of address to a priest), clergyman

Example sentences

Πάμε στον παπά.
We're going to see the priest.
Ρώτησα τον παπά πότε είναι η βάφτιση.
I asked the priest when the baptism is.
Παπά, ευλόγησε το σπίτι μας.
Father, bless our house.
Η γνώμη του παπά μετράει πολύ σε αυτό το χωριό.
The priest's opinion carries a lot of weight in this village.
Χωρίς την άδεια του παπά δεν μπορούσαν να παντρευτούν στην εκκλησία.
Without the priest's permission, they couldn't marry in the church.
Ο γέρος θυμόταν ακόμα τα λόγια του παπά που τον είχε βαφτίσει εβδομήντα χρόνια πριν.
The old man still remembered the words of the priest who had baptized him seventy years earlier.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeο παπάςοι παπάδες
Genitiveτου παπάτων παπάδων
Accusativeτον παπάτους παπάδες
Vocativeπαπάπαπάδες

Word family

παπαδιάthe priest's wife
παπαδάκιlittle priest (diminutive, often affectionate)
μπαμπάςdad (related root, unrelated meaning)παππούςgrandfather (related root, unrelated meaning)

Etymology

Παπάς comes from Byzantine Greek πάπας, itself from an earlier πάππας, a child's word for 'father' built by doubling a simple syllable. The word settled on the specific sense of 'priest', since Orthodox clergy are addressed as 'father'. The same root, taken along a different path through Latin, gave English 'pope', since πάππας was also once used for the Bishop of Rome.

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