Patriarcha, one of those first fathers who lived towards the beginning of the world, and who became famous by their long lines of descendants. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and his twelve sons, are the patriarchs of the Old Testament; Seth, Enoch, &c. were antediluvian patriarchs.

Patriarchs, among Christians, are ecclesiastical dig- Patriarchs dignitaries, or bishops, so called from their paternal authority in the church. The power of patriarchs was not the same in all, but differed according to the different customs of countries, or the pleasures of kings and councils. Thus the patriarch of Constantinople grew to be a patriarch over the patriarchs of Ephesus and Caesarea, and was called the ecumenical and universal patriarch; and the patriarch of Alexandria had some prerogatives which no other patriarch but himself enjoyed, such as the right of consecrating and approving every single bishop under his jurisdiction.

PATRIARCHAL cross, in heraldry, is that where the shaft is twice crossed; the lower arms being longer than the upper ones.