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

An apparitor tore him down, and was dragged to the ground in his turn.

From Hypatia — or New Foes with an Old Face by Charles Kingsley

During several stanzas the apparitor narrates to the devil, as one consummately wicked man to another, all the tricks of his trade to drum up cases for himself and his court.

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

“There,” said Juba, “is what will tell more against you than imperial edict, informer, or proconsular apparitor; and no work of mine.”

From Callista : a Tale of the Third Century by John Henry Newman

“Mr—, Mr—,” faltered the apparitor, coming unexpectedly on this uncouth name; suddenly he rose a-tiptoe and to the emergency,—“Mr Cockahoon.”

From Two Suffolk Friends by Francis Hindes Groome

The celestial apparitor of heaven's chancery, so we may speak, the genius of Fact and Veracity, had left his writ of summons; writ was read and replied to in this manner.'

From Critical Miscellanies, Vol. I Essay 2: Carlyle by John Morley