custos

American  

[kuhs-tos, koos-tohs] / ˈkʌs tɒs, ˈkʊs toʊs /

noun

plural

custodes

1. (italics) a custodian.

2. a superior in the Franciscan order.

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custos British  

/ ˈkʌstɒs /

noun

1. Also called (in England): guardian.  a superior in the Franciscan religious order

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Etymology

Origin of custos

1425–75; late Middle English < Medieval Latin

Example Sentences

The Very Rev. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, custos of the Holy Land, will speak about “Struggle and Hope in the Holy Land.”

From Washington Post • Nov. 13, 2015

He was also the first custos of Ashmole’s Museum, which could not have been an easy office since “twelve cartloads of Trades cant’s rarities” arrived in Oxford to form its nucleus. 

From Springtime and Other Essays by Darwin, Francis, Sir

The custos is bringing before them a little bare-headed leper.

From The Standard Galleries - Holland by Singleton, Esther

“Latinæ puritatis custos fuit religiosissimus, unde et docti cognomen meruit.”

From History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Volume I by Dunlop, John

Before 1888 the clerk of the peace was appointed in a county by the custos rotulorum.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 4 "England" to "English Finance" by Various