registrar

American  

[rej-uh-strahr, rej-uh-strahr] / ˈrɛdʒ əˌstrɑr, ˌrɛdʒ əˈstrɑr /

noun

• registrars
  plural

1. a person who keeps a record; an official recorder.

2. an agent of a bank, trust company, or other corporation who is responsible for certifying and registering issues of securities.

3. an official at a school or college who maintains students' personal and academic records, issues reports of grades, mails out official publications, etc.

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registrar British  

/ ˌrɛdʒɪˈstrɑː, ˈrɛdʒɪˌstrɑː /

noun

1. a person who keeps official records

2. an administrative official responsible for student records, enrolment procedure, etc, in a school, college, or university

3. a hospital doctor senior to a houseman but junior to a consultant, specializing in either medicine ( medical registrar ) or surgery ( surgical registrar )

4. the chief medical administrator of a large hospital

5. a person employed by a company to maintain a register of its security issues

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• registrarship
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• registrars
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of registrar

1350–1400; alteration ( see -ar ²) of earlier registrary < Medieval Latin registrārius ( register, -ary ); replacing earlier registrer, Middle English registrer < Anglo-French ( Old French registreur ) < Medieval Latin registrātor, equivalent to registrā ( re ) to register + -tor -tor

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Explanation

A registrar is the head of a university's record-keeping department. It's the job of the registrar to keep track of class schedules and a record of students' grades. At a college or university, the registrar is the person who's responsible for keeping accurate records of classes, students, and grades. You might visit the registrar if your schedule needs to be changed, or when you want a copy of your transcript to send to a graduate school or for a fellowship application. Registrar comes from the Medieval Latin registrarius, "one who keeps a record,"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

registrar registrars

Kern County’s assistant registrar of voters, Laura Cantu, said election officials are urging rural voters to use drop boxes to cast their ballots in the general election.

From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2026

The petition, which is not a demand for payment, will not be served personally on the King, but to the registrar of the JCPC.

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026

He will be out of office in January after losing the June primary to Joanna Francescut, a longtime assistant registrar whom he had fired.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

Jesse Salinas, the voter registrar, assessor, and clerk-recorder of California’s Yolo County who serves as president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials, said there is a tradeoff between speed and security.

From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2026

“I’ll call the sheriff if you don’t get out of here,” the registrar warned, standing up.

From "Stella by Starlight" by Sharon M. Draper

Bonta also said that the state would dispatch observers — potentially from his office, the secretary of state and county registrars — to watch the federal monitors at polling places.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2025

"They would've gone to crime registrars and the head of the crime and they would've cascaded the guidance," he said.

From BBC ● Jan. 9, 2025

The registrars need to confirm if that’s true, because it would mean the person is also ineligible to vote.

From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2024

Petition organizers said Tuesday that they are submitting nearly 900,000 signatures to county registrars across the state to qualify the California Personal Finance Initiative for the November election.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2024

Sometimes the registrars were kind enough to supply that material gratis.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

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