A monastic rank next below the Bishop in the Church hierarchy. From the Greek, meaning the head of a monastery.

the highest rank conferred upon a priest-monk, above hieromonk and hegumen and just below bishop, on which is conferred the rule of one or several monasteries.

The title Archimandrite (Greek: - archimandrites), primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox Church, refers to a superior abbot whom a bishop appoints to supervise several 'ordinary' abbots (each styled hegumenos) and monasteries, or to the abbot of some specially great and important monastery.