magistracy
Americannoun
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magistracies
plural
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the office or function of a magistrate.
-
a body of magistrates.
-
the district under a magistrate.
noun
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the office or function of a magistrate
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magistrates collectively
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the district under the jurisdiction of a magistrate
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of magistracy
First recorded in 1570–80; magistr(ate) + -acy
Explanation
If someone is a magistrate — a judge or other civil officer — her position or office is a magistracy. A magistracy in an English town deals with small, local crimes and offenses. The United States doesn't have magistrates or magistracies, but in many countries they are part of the legal systems. In the UK and Australia, for example, a magistracy hears the majority of cases, with more serious criminal cases being heard by judges in larger courts. Both magistrate and magistracy come from a Latin word, magistratus, "public functionary or civil officer," which shares its root with the English word master.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A spokesperson from the department tells BBC Newsbeat that "the government wants to ensure that the magistracy reflects the diversity of the communities it serves, including age, background and experience".
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2025
The DNA’s chief prosecutor, Laura Codruta Kovesi, a basketball star in her teens, rose through the magistracy before getting the top job in April 2013.
From Economist ● Feb. 19, 2015
While what Barton, and possibly Rio Ferdinand, tweeted was seriously prejudicial, it fails the substantial risk test because of the expectation of impartiality of the magistracy and judiciary.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 9, 2012
After Tom Jones, which Fielding published when he was 41, the government gave him a small sinecure, the magistracy of Westminster.
From Time Magazine Archive
Carondelet was succeeded by Gayosa de Lamor, Casa Calvo, and Salvado, who, successively, but for a very brief period, wielded the chief magistracy of the colony.
From Norman's New Orleans and Environs Containing a Brief Historical Sketch of the Territory and State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time by B. M. Norman
They were to have consular imperium with the right to appoint to the magistracies and their acts were to be valid without the approval of the Senate.
From A History of Rome to 565 A. D. by Arthur Edward Romilly Boak
Among them were the two consuls and selected representatives of each of the other great magistracies of Rome.
From Walks in Rome by Augustus J. C. Hare
The tribunate was not considered as one of the regular magistracies, and the censorship, according to the custom previously established, followed the consulship.
From A History of Rome to 565 A. D. by Arthur Edward Romilly Boak
In her system, he says, she assigns to devout women spiritual functions, dignities, and even magistracies.
From History of Woman Suffrage, Volume II by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
With the state there arises inequality, the difference of governing powers and of governed, magistracies, authorities, directories, &c.
From Hegel's Philosophy of Mind by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
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