apparitor

American  

[uh-par-i-ter] / əˈpær ɪ tər /

noun

1. (in ancient Rome) a subordinate official of a magistrate or of the court.

---

apparitor British  

/ əˈpærɪtə /

noun

1. an officer who summons witnesses and executes the orders of an ecclesiastical and (formerly) a civil court

---

Etymology

Origin of apparitor

1250–1300; Middle English apparitour < Latin appāritor, equivalent to appāri- (variant stem of appārēre to serve, attend, literally, to be seen; see appear) + -tor -tor

Example Sentences

Everybody knows that a party to a suit summons an apparitor and dictates to him whatever he chooses, and the apparitor proclaims it.

From Pan Tadeusz Or, the Last Foray in Lithuania; a Story of Life Among Polish Gentlefolk in the Years 1811 and 1812 by Noyes, George Rapall

Was I not forced to appear before the examining magistrate, I, Passajon, formerly apparitor to the Faculty, with my record of thirty years of faithful service and the ribbon of an officer of the Academy!

From The Nabob, Vol. 2 (of 2) by Ives, George Burnham

At the petition of an apparitor, who acted as public prosecutor, seven of Johnson's fellow-parishioners were cited to swear not to the fact of his guilt, but to the general belief in it.

From The Elizabethan Parish in its Ecclesiastical and Financial Aspects by Ware, Sedley Lynch

The apparitor of the Bishop of London went with a citation into the shop of a mercer of St. Bride's, Henry Clitheroe by name.

From The Reign of Henry the Eighth, Volume 1 (of 3) by Froude, James Anthony

The chief apparitor looked unflinching into the proconsul's gray-brown eyes.

From Saul of Tarsus A Tale of the Early Christians by Miller, Elizabeth