n. The superior of a large monastery, or group of monasteries, in the Orthodox Church.
n. An honorary title sometimes given to a monastic priest.
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. A chief of a monastery, corresponding to abbot in the Roman Catholic church.
n. A superintendent of several monasteries, corresponding to superior abbot, or father provincial, in the Roman Catholic church.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. In the Eastern Church, an abbot-general, having other abbots (hegoumenoi) with their monasteries under his superintendence; also sometimes, especially among the Greeks, the abbot of a single large monastery.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
n. the superior of an abbey of monks
Word Usage
"Originally there seems to have been no appreciable difference in the signification of these two words, but after the period of Justinian the title archimandrite was jealously reserved for the superiors of the older or of the more important monasteries."