mayor
Americannoun
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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:
Esteban "Steve" Bovo, the former mayor of majority-Cuban Hialeah in Florida has known Rubio since he was just a city councilman in West Miami.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
Fernando Casado, mayor of Robledo de Chavela, a village at the northern end of the flames, was more cautious.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Police have detained a 15-year-old related to the shooting, but details are still “under investigation,” the mayor said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
On the other hand, he thinks DSA member Zohran Mamdani is doing a pretty good job as mayor so far.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
A minute later the mayor came back outside carrying something under his arm.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
At one time, the sitting mayors of both San Francisco and Los Angeles were clients of Reilly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
Labour wants to create a plan that would pull from existing devolution strategy and local growth policy, to allow civil servants, mayors, councils and businesses to work together more closely.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Other former mayors such as Eric Adams also appointed a majority of the board’s members.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
But they have declined to replicate England's system of mayors for city regions like Greater Manchester, where Andy Burnham built his political profile as the "King of the North".
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
There were photographs of actual mayors, Miriam and Cavanaugh.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
