thumb | right | Statue of [[Augustus as Pontifex Maximus]]
In Roman antiquity, a pontiff () was a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs. The term pontiff was later applied to any high or chief priest and, in Catholic ecclesiastical usage, to bishops, especially the Pope, who is sometimes referred to as the Roman Pontiff or the Supreme Pontiff.
Etymology
The English term derives through Old French pontif from Latin pontifex, a word commonly held to come from the Latin root words pons, pont- (bridge) + facere (to do, to make), and so to have the literal meaning of "bridge-builder", presumably between mankind and the deity/deities. Uncertainty prevailing, this may be only a folk etymology, The term may also be an allusion to Ancient Roman Religious rituals for placating the gods and spirits associated with the Tiber River, for instance. Also, Varro cites this position as meaning "able to do".
Ancient Rome
There were four chief colleges of priests in ancient Rome, the most illustrious of which was that of the pontifices. And in the Vulgate version of the Letter to the Hebrews, "pontifex" (singular) is repeatedly used with reference to the then still extant High Priesthood in Judaism, and analogously suggesting Jesus Christ as the ultimate high priest.
Catholicism
The word "pontiff", though now most often used in relation to a pope, technically refers to any Catholic bishop. The phrase "Roman pontiff" is therefore not tautological, but means "Bishop of Rome". and "pontificals", the insignia of his order that a bishop uses when celebrating Pontifical Mass. While the pontificals primarily belong to bishops, they have also been granted by papal favour or legally established Church custom to certain presbyters (e.g., abbots).
Other religions
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The word has been employed in English also for caliphs (Islam) and swamis and jagadgurus (Hinduism).