magistrate

American  

[maj-uh-streyt, -strit] / ˈmædʒ əˌstreɪt, -strɪt /

noun

1. a civil officer charged with the administration of the law.

2. a minor judicial officer, as a justice of the peace or the judge of a police court, having jurisdiction to try minor criminal cases and to conduct preliminary examinations of persons charged with serious crimes.

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magistrate British  

/ ˈmædʒɪˌstreɪt, -strɪt /

noun

1. a public officer concerned with the administration of law

2. another name for justice of the peace

3. the former name for district court judge

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Other Word Forms

• magistrateship noun

Etymology

Origin of magistrate

1350–1400; Middle English magistrat < Latin magistrātus magistracy, magistrate, equivalent to magist ( e ) r master + -ātus -ate ³

Example Sentences

Around the time Themistocles became a chief magistrate in 493, a developing concept was isonomia: equality before the law.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 8, 2026

Sri Lankan authorities have begun an inquest into the deaths of the sailors at the southern port city of Galle while the chief magistrate Sameera Dodangoda has ordered autopsies.

From Barron's • Mar. 5, 2026

Singh, a citizen of India who lacks legal status in the U.S., was detained by ICE after a magistrate judge ordered him released on bond.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2026

The magistrate said: "You've shown complete disregard of the entire process, and it would be wholly unsuitable to put you back into the community at this time."

From BBC • Feb. 20, 2026

We find evidence for similar bitterness in the archive of the Greek magistrate Diophanes, who presided over the Arsinoite nome in middle Egypt toward the end of Eratosthenes’ lifetime in the late third century.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro