Ab"bot (#), n. [AS. abbod, abbad, L. abbas, abbatis, Gr. , fr. Syriac abba father. Cf. Abba, Abbe.]
1.
The superior or head of an abbey.
2.
One of a class of bishops whose sees were formerly abbeys.
Encyc. Brit.
Abbot of the people. a title formerly given to one of the chief magistrates in Genoa. -- Abbot of Misrule (or Lord of Misrule), in mediaeval times, the master of revels, as at Christmas; in Scotland called the Abbot of Unreason.
Encyc. Brit.
© Webster 1913.