n. 1. A chief bishop; a church dignitary of the first class (often called a metropolitan or primate) who superintends the conduct of the suffragan bishops in his province, and also exercises episcopal authority in his own diocese.
ARCHBISHOP, eccl. law. The chief of the clergy of a whole province. He has the, inspection of the bishops of that province, as well as of the inferior clergy, and may deprive them on notorious cause. The archbishop has also his own diocese, in which he exercises, episcopal jurisdiction, as in his province he exercises archiepiscopal authority. 1 Bl. Com. 380; L. Raym. 541; Code, 1, 2.