English Explanatory Dictionary

mayor

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The chief executive of the municipal government of a city, borough, etc., formerly (historical) usually appointed as a caretaker by European royal courts but now usually appointed or elected locally.
  2. Ellipsis of mayor of the palace, the royal stewards of the Frankish Empire.
  3. Synonym of mair, various former officials in the Kingdom of Scotland.
  4. A member of a city council.
  5. A high justice, an important judge.
  6. A largely ceremonial position in some municipal governments that presides over the city council while a contracted city manager holds actual executive power.
  7. A local VIP, a muckamuck or big shot reckoned to lead some local group.
name
  1. A surname from Anglo-Norman.

Pronunciation

/ˈmɛə/ /ˈmeɪ.ə/ /ˈmeɪ.əɹ/ /ˈmɛɚ/ en-us-mayor.ogg

Word forms

mayor mayors maiere maieur mar mayere meer mehir meir meire mer mere meyhir meyr maier mayer mayr meyer meyre maiour mair maire mare mayre maior major mawer majer mayour

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s Proto-Indo-European *-yōs Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂yōs Proto-Italic *magjōs Latin maior Old French mairebor. Middle English maire English mayor From Middle English maire, from Old French maire (“head of a city or town government”), a substantivation of Old French maire (“greater”), from Latin maior (“bigger, greater, superior”), comparative of magnus (“big, great”). Doublet of major. Cognate with Old High German meior (“estate manager, steward, bailiff”) (modern German Meier), Middle Dutch meier (“administrator, steward, bailiff”) (modern Dutch meier). Displaced Old English burgealdor (“a ruler of a city, mayor, citizen”), burhġerēfa (“boroughreeve”), and portġerēfa (“portreeve”).

Synonyms

mayoress burgomaster boroughmaster boroughreeve portreeve provost Lord Provost praetor mair various former officials in the Kingdom of Scotland

Derived words

lady mayor lord mayor mayoral mayoralty mayor-choosing mayor-corn mayor-council mayordom mayoress mayorhood mayorial mayorlet mayorly mayor-making mayor's banquet mayor's court mayor's feast mayorsfeud mayorship mayor's peer mayor-town mayory supermayor weak mayor

Translations

Akkadian: ḫazannum Akkadian: hazannātum Albanian: kryebashkiak Arabic: عُمْدَة Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܪܹܝܫ ܡܕܝܼܢ݇ܬܵܐ Armenian: քաղաքապետ Asturian: alcalde Asturian: alcaldesa Azerbaijani: icra hakimiyyəti başçısı Azerbaijani: icra başçısı Azerbaijani: mer Basque: alkate Basque: auzapez Belarusian: мэр Belarusian: мэ́рка Breton: maer Bulgarian: кмет Bulgarian: кмети́ца Bulgarian: градонача́лник Bulgarian: градонача́лничка Bulgarian: градонача́лница Burmese: မြို့တော်ဝန် Catalan: alcalde Catalan: alcaldessa Catalan: batlle Catalan: batllessa Cebuano: alkalde Cebuano: mayor Chinese Cantonese: 市長 /市长 Chinese Mandarin: 市長 /市长 Czech: starosta Czech: starostka Danish: borgmester Danish: borgmesterinde Dutch: burgemeester Erzya: ошазор Esperanto: urbestro Estonian: linnapea Faroese: borgarstjóri Finnish: pormestari Finnish: kaupunginjohtaja Finnish: määri French: maire French: mairesse French: bourgmestre Galician: alcalde Galician: alcaldesa Georgian: მერი German: Bürgermeister German: Bürgermeisterin Bavarian German: Buagamasta Greek: δήμαρχος Greek: δημαρχίνα Greenlandic: borgmesteri Hebrew: ראש עירייה \ רֹאשׁ עִירִיָּה Hebrew: רֹאשׁ עִיר Hindi: महापौर Hindi: मेयर Hungarian: polgármester Hungarian: főpolgármester Icelandic: borgarstjóri Icelandic: bæjarstjóri Ido: urbestro Ilocano: basar Indonesian: wali kota Interlingua: burgomaestro Irish: méara
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