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proconsul

[proh-kon-suh l]
noun
  1. 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.
  2. 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
Related formspro·con·su·lar, adjectivepro·con·su·lar·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for proconsular

Historical Examples

  • Nobody remains longer than that on a first Proconsular appointment.

    A Slave is a Slave

    Henry Beam Piper

  • He went to Africa with proconsular authority, and of course fleeced the Africans.

    Life of Cicero

    Anthony Trollope

  • Then, heralded by an obsequious guard, came a great man, proconsular in mien and gait.

    Hyacinth

    George A. Birmingham

  • A legate being appointed by the emperor over the conquered countries, Britain became a proconsular province.

  • This was Obray of Erskyll's first proconsular appointment, it was due to family influence, and it was a mistake.

    A Slave is a Slave

    Henry Beam Piper

British Dictionary definitions for proconsular

proconsul

noun
  1. an administrator or governor of a colony, occupied territory, or other dependency
  2. (in ancient Rome) the governor of a senatorial province
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Derived Formsproconsular (prəʊˈkɒnsjʊlə), adjectiveproconsulate or proconsulship, noun

Word Origin

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

Word Origin and History for proconsular

proconsul

n.

late 14c., "governor or military commander of an ancient Roman province," from Latin proconsul "governor of a province; military commander," from phrase pro consule "(acting) in place of a consul," from pro- "in place of" (see pro-) + ablative of consul. In modern use usually rhetorical, but it was a title of certain commissioners in the French Revolution, was used in English for "deputy consul," and was used again of U.S. administrators in Iraq during the occupation. Related: Proconsular.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper