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.