mayor
Americannoun
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mayors
plural
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the chief executive official, usually elected, of a city, village, or town.
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the chief magistrate of a city or borough.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of mayor
First recorded in 1250–1300; from Medieval Latin major major; replacing Middle English mer, mair, from Old French maire
Explanation
The mayor is the leader of a city. He or she heads the city government. Just as a president leads a country, a mayor leads a city. Like other politicians, mayors must run for office and win an election. The word mayor comes from the Old French maire for "head of a city or town government" but most mayors probably like the original meaning, which is "greater, superior." Alas, mayors do run cities but calling them all superior is a stretch! In the United States, the president leads the country, a governor leads a state, and a mayor leads a city. If it’s used as a title for a particular mayor, as in Mayor Smith, it’s capitalized.
Vocabulary lists containing mayor
Citizenship (Civics) - Middle School
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Citizenship (Civics) - Introductory
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American Government and Civics, List 2
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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:
The Local Apprenticeships Service was initially planned as a pilot in a limited number of areas but would now be available to any English mayor who wants it, he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
“For some reason that no one can figure out, I really, really like you,” Johnson’s Trump told Mamdani, poking fun at the unlikely rapport between the president and the democratic socialist mayor.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
Marcin Nazarewicz, the mayor of Jaroslaw, told AFP that following the attack he had met Poland's crisis management team to "work with and talk to" young Ukrainians there.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
Stack also issued a statement from David Huerta, president of Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West, which is supporting the mayor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Blacks and whites alike scratched their heads at Grabarek’s abstruse testimony, but it was clear the mayor was no friend of Fuller.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
All the recent L.A. mayors I’ve known had their faults and failures, whether the task was filling potholes, building out transit or addressing the high cost of housing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
"It's not just four mayors who sit in Yorkshire, all our combined authorities are made up of those local authorities as well," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Elsewhere the paper reveals mayors will be given powers to control and oversee water companies under plans by Andy Burnham.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
Prime Minister Andy Burnham last week unveiled plans to let regional mayors slap a tax on hotel stays.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
“But holding onto the cities was never sustainable. There are too many factors we cannot account for, and soon even the Survivalist leaders—the mayors, the congressmen—realized that it wasn’t a long-term plan.”
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
