The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word ENOCH
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
E
N
O
C
H
More clues leading to the result ENOCH
- Patriarch backing solid husband
- I turned on taps for patriarch
- Biblical character, one turning on the house of God
- Chifonie loses if I reform what is left for Noah’s ancestor
- What’s that about prisoner returning in Arden?
- Man in Bible, one backing church
- Individual backing church, a biblical figure
- Last bit of Cornish ice-cream picked up by first grandson?
- Biblical character — person exalted by church
- Church follows elevation of a certain patriarch
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "patriarch" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case patriarch = enoch.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.