chancellor

[chan-suh-ler, -sler, chahn-]

noun

1. the chief minister of state in certain parliamentary governments, as in Germany; prime minister; premier.

2. the chief administrative officer in certain American universities.

3. a secretary, as to a king or noble or of an embassy.

4. the priest in charge of a Roman Catholic chancery.

5. the title of various important judges and other high officials.

6. (in some states of the U.S.) the judge of a court of equity or chancery.

7. British.,  the honorary, nonresident, titular head of a university.

chancellor

/ -slə, ˈtʃɑːnsələ /

noun

1. the head of the government in several European countries

2. the president of a university or, in some colleges, the chief administrative officer

3. the honorary head of a university Compare vice chancellor

4. (in some states) the presiding judge of a court of chancery or equity

5. the chief secretary of an embassy

6. Christianity a clergyman acting as the law officer of a bishop

7. archaic,  the chief secretary of a prince, nobleman, etc

Other Word Forms

• underchancellor noun
• chancellorship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of chancellor¹

before 1100; Middle English chanceler < Anglo-French < Late Latin cancellārius doorkeeper, literally, man at the barrier ( chancel, -er ² ); replacing Middle English canceler, Old English ≪ Late Latin, as above

Word History and Origins

Origin of chancellor¹

C11: from Anglo-French chanceler, from Late Latin cancellārius porter, secretary, from Latin cancellī lattice; see _chancel

Example Sentences

The chancellor repeatedly refused to rule this out, as she pointed to forecasts for economic productivity being weaker than expected.

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The UK's official forecaster confirmed the market-sensitive report was accessed 43 times from 32 different computers in the hour before the chancellor's speech.

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On Tuesday 4 November, the chancellor called an extraordinary pre-Budget news conference.

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Monday's meeting in Berlin will involve Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, German chancellor Friedrich Merz, as well as the Polish ministers of foreign affairs and defence, according to the Office of the Federal Chancellor.

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Shadow chancellor Mel Stride has called for the UK's financial regulator to investigate "possible market abuse" by people working in the Treasury and Downing Street in the run-up the Budget.

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Related Words

• administrator 
• agent 
• bureaucrat 
• civil servant 
• commissioner 
• director 
• executive 
• leader 
• manager 
• minister 
• officer 
• representative 
• secretary