Definition of: exarch

(ek′särk) noun
1. A provincial governor under the Byzantine Empire.
2. In the Greek Church, the deputy of a patriarch.
3. Formerly, in the Greek Church, a metropolitan or patriarch; later, a bishop ranking below a patriarch. [<LL exarchus <Gk. exarchos <ex- out + archein rule]
—ex·ar·chate (ek′·sär·kāt, ik·sär′kāt) noun