pontificate \pon-TIF-i-keyt\,
verb:
1. To speak in a pompous or dogmatic manner.
2. To perform the office or duties of a pontiff.
3. To serve as a bishop, especially in a Pontifical Mass.
noun:
1. The office or term of office of a pontiff.
His image is to appear as the guardian of robust morality as opposed to the business world, and he is invited pretty regularly to pontificate on television.
-- Stieg Larsson, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
The teacher's vanity and desire to pontificate had, he was vaguely aware, got the better of him.
-- Michael Antony, "The Apocalypse Syndrome"
Originating from the Latin pontificatus, meaning 'to speak in the manner of a pontiff,' pontificate fell into common usage in 1825.
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