archiepiscopus

Greek episkopos combined epi- (over) and skopein (to look, to watch). An episkopos was an overseer or superintendent — in classical Greek, a civil official who supervised a subject community. The New Testament used episkopos for the leaders of early Christian communities: those who watched over the congregation. Latin borrowed it as episcopus; Old English shortened it to biscop, then bishop — losing the 'epi' entirely.

Greek archi- meant chief or principal — the same prefix in architect, archetype, and archangel. When the Church organized its hierarchy more formally in the 4th and 5th centuries, bishops who oversaw other bishops received the title archiepiscopus — chief bishop. The Archbishop of Rome eventually claimed primacy over all archbishops; the Archbishop of Canterbury became the senior bishop of the English church.

The English Reformation gave the Archbishop of Canterbury a new significance. When Henry VIII broke with Rome in 1534, the Archbishop became the head of the Church of England under the monarch. Thomas Cranmer, the first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury, authored the Book of Common Prayer (1549) and was burned at the stake under Mary I in 1556 — putting his writing hand first into the flames, in penance for having recanted and then recanted his recantation.

Today the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York lead the Church of England; the Archbishop of Westminster leads the Catholic Church in England. Both trace to the Greek episkopos — the overseer — with different claims to what, and who, is being overseen.