proconsul

[ proh-kon-suhl ]

/ proʊˈkɒn səl /

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noun

Roman History. an official, usually a former consul, who acted as governor or military commander of a province, and who had powers similar to those of a consul.

any appointed administrator over a dependency or an occupied area.

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Origin of proconsul

1350–1400; Middle English <Latin prōconsul;see pro-¹, consul

OTHER WORDS FROM proconsul

pro·con·su·lar, adjectivepro·con·su·lar·ly, adverb

Words nearby proconsul

proclitic, proclivity, Proclus, Procne, pro-Communist, proconsul, proconsulate, Procopius, procrastinate, procrastination, Procrastination is the thief of time

Other definitions for proconsul (2 of 2)

Proconsul

[ proh-kon-suhl ]

/ proʊˈkɒn səl /

noun

an African subgenus of Dryopithecus that lived 17–20 million years ago and is possibly ancestral to modern hominoids.

Origin of Proconsul

<New Latin (1933), equivalent to pro-pro-¹ + Consul, allegedly the name of a chimpanzee in a London zoo (with a pun on Latin prōconsulproconsul); the genus was thought to be ancestral to the chimpanzee

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use proconsul in a sentence

Government authority then rested with the Coalition Provisional Authority proconsul L. Paul Bremer.
What If the Iraq War Never Happened?|Michael Ware|March 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The curator of his city sent him in chains to the proconsul.
The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire|Edward Gibbon
I was travelling through Judæa, on my way to Syria, and the Cæsar had desired me to visit the proconsul.
"Unto Caesar"|Baroness Emmuska Orczy
He said he was no Roman proconsul, but the slave of Carthage.
Young Folks' History of Rome|Charlotte Mary Yonge

The Roman proconsul rose from his chair and motioned that the audience was at an end.
The Last of the Legions and Other Tales of Long Ago|Arthur Conan Doyle
The other senatorial provinces were entrusted to praetors, who also bore the title of proconsul.
Quintus Claudius, Volume 2 of 2|Ernst Eckstein

British Dictionary definitions for proconsul

proconsul

/ (prəʊˈkɒnsəl) /

noun

an administrator or governor of a colony, occupied territory, or other dependency

(in ancient Rome) the governor of a senatorial province

Derived forms of proconsul

proconsular (prəʊˈkɒnsjʊlə), adjectiveproconsulate or proconsulship, noun

Word Origin for proconsul

C14: from Latin, from prō consule (someone acting) for the consul. See pro- ², consul

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012