apparitor

American  

[uh-par-i-ter] / əˈpær ɪ tər /

noun

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

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apparitor British  

/ əˈpærɪtə /

noun

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

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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

See Examples For:

apparitor

Take this," he said, handing the apparitor the parchment, "and make search for the man herein described.

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

The devil going a hunting one Sunday and beating the bushes, up starts a proud apparitor.

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

We followed our amiable apparitor, and were ushered into a saloon decorated in the Chinese style, where Ki-Chan was seated upon a sort of throne, about three feet high, and covered with red cloth. 

From Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China During the years 1844-5-6 Volume 2 by Huc, Évariste Régis

Before any of his apparitors could execute the sentence, he was himself summoned away by a sterner apparitor to the other world.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah

Then the Bishop of London's apparitor came and railed on the other bishops, and said that he, nor no such as he, shall have jurisdiction within his Lord's precincts.

From History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth. Vol. II. by Froude, James Anthony