In ancient Rome, the pontifices
were powerful priests who administered the part of civil law that regulated
relationships with the deities recognized by the state. Their name, pontifex,
derives from the Latin words pons, meaning "bridge," and facere,
meaning "to make," and some think it may have developed because the
group was associated with a sacred bridge over the river Tiber (although there
is no proof of that). With the rise of Catholicism, the title pontifex was
transferred to the Pope and to Catholic bishops. Pontificate derives from
pontifex , and in its earliest English uses it referred to things associated
with such prelates. By the late 1800s, pontificate was also being used
derisively for individuals who spoke as if they had the authority of an ecclesiastic.
