office
Pontifex Maximus
maximus pontifex
also: максимус понтифекс
The chief priest of ancient Rome's state religion; the narrator misapplies the grand classical title, half in earnest, to the local village priest, Father Gerasim.
Reading notes
- A Letter to a Learned Neighbor §3 maximus pontifex
Latin for 'supreme pontiff,' the chief priest of ancient Rome's state religion; the narrator misapplies the grand classical title, half in earnest, to the local village priest -- a stock piece of his malapropistic pseudo-learning.