alderman

American  

[awl-der-muhn] / ˈɔl dər mən /

noun

• aldermen
  plural

1. a member of a municipal legislative body, especially of a municipal council.

2. (in England) one of the members, chosen by the elected councilors, in a borough or county council.

3. Early English History.

   1. a chief.

   2. (later) the chief magistrate of a county or group of counties.

4. Northern U.S. Slang. a pot belly.

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alderman British  

/ ˈɔːldəmən /

noun

1. (in England and Wales until 1974) one of the senior members of a local council, elected by other councillors

2. (in the US, Canada, Australia, etc) a member of the governing body of a municipality

3. history a variant spelling of ealdorman

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alderman Cultural  

1. A member of a city council. Aldermen usually represent city districts, called wards, and work with the mayor to run the city government. Jockeying among aldermen for political influence is often associated with machine politics.

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Gender

Is alderman gender-neutral? See -man.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• aldermancy
  noun
• aldermanry
  noun
• aldermanship
  noun
• underalderman
  noun
• aldermanic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• aldermen
  plural

Etymology

Origin of alderman

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English (e)aldormann, equivalent to ealdor “chief, patriarch” ( eald old + -or noun suffix) + mann man

Explanation

An alderman is a member of a city or town government. The city of Chicago is governed by a group of 50 aldermen. In Anglo-Saxon England, an alderman was a royal official who made laws or served in the military. The word is from a root that means "patriarch" or "old man," and these long-ago aldermen were, in fact, exclusively male. Today a board of aldermen is basically the same as a city council, consisting of elected representatives who govern a town or city. Many places have begun using the more inclusive term alderperson to refer to these legislators.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

alderman aldermen

But they held government-related positions, such as a Wisconsin alderman who resigned after he was identified as a member.

From Salon ● Dec. 30, 2025

“Chicagoans didn’t trust the city administration to spend the money that they would get from the tax,” said Dick Simpson, a retired University of Illinois, Chicago, professor of political science and a former alderman.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 11, 2025

Michael Rodriguez, a Chicago city councilman and the neighborhood’s alderman, said 85% of the population is of Mexican descent.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2025

“We don’t know who is arresting our brothers and sisters, because they are hiding behind masks,” Michael Rodriguez, a city alderman, told CBS News.

From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2025

The first black alderman had been elected in 1915, and he was later elected to Congress.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield

On Wednesday, Waguespack and the other aldermen introduced counterproposals to balance Chicago’s $16.6 billion budget.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 11, 2025

But volunteers, churches and some aldermen say the response is too slow and inefficient.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 1, 2023

Members of their wing now hold the mayor’s office in Los Angeles and a majority on the board of aldermen in St. Louis.

From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2023

By contrast, New York City’s 51 councilmembers each represent about 164,000 people, while Chicago’s 50 aldermen each represent about 54,000 people.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2022

Mayor Clarkson could have cited his powerlessness, could have pleaded concern for his family, and fled the danger, as many other aldermen were doing.

From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy