abbot

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

abbot
    n 1: the superior of an abbey of monks [syn: {abbot},
         {archimandrite}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Abbot \Ab"bot\ ([a^]b"b[u^]t), n. [AS. abbod, abbad, L. abbas,
   abbatis, Gr. 'abba^s, fr. Syriac abb[=a] father. Cf. {Abba},
   {Abb['e]}.]
   1. The superior or head of an abbey.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. One of a class of bishops whose sees were formerly abbeys.
      --Encyc. Brit.
      [1913 Webster]

   {Abbot of the people}. a title formerly given to one of the
      chief magistrates in Genoa.

   {Abbot of Misrule} (or {Lord of Misrule}), in medi[ae]val
      times, the master of revels, as at Christmas; in Scotland
      called the {Abbot of Unreason}. --Encyc. Brit.
      [1913 Webster]

from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

26 Moby Thesaurus words for "abbot":
      abbacomes, ascetic, beadsman, brother, caloyer, celibate, cenobite,
      conventual, conventual prior, friar, grand prior, hermit,
      hieromonach, lay abbot, lay brother, mendicant, monastic, monk,
      palmer, pilgrim, pillar saint, pillarist, prior, religieux,
      religious, stylite