chancellor

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See also:Chancellor

English

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WOTD – 17 July 2019

Etymology

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SirThomas More,depicted in this 1527 portrait byHans Holbein the Younger,[n 1]was theChancellorof the Duchy of Lancasterfrom 1525 to 1529, andLord HighChancellorof Englandfrom 1529 to 1532(sense 1).
Angela Merkelwas theChancellorofGermany(sense 2)from 2005 to 2021.

FromAnglo-NormanorMiddle Englishchaunceler,chanceler,canceler(“chief administrative or executive officer of a ruler; chancellor, secretary; private secretary, scribe; Lord Chancellor of England; officer of the ruler's exchequer; a high administrative or executive officer (for example, a deputy or representative of a bishop; the head of a university)”),fromOld Frenchcancelier,chancelier(“chancellor”),[1]fromLate Latincancellārius(“secretary; doorkeeper, porter; usher of a court of law stationed at the bars separating the public from the judges”),[2]fromLatincancellī(pluralofcancellus(“grate; bars, barrier; railings”),diminutiveofcancer(“grid; barrier”),fromProto-Italic*karkros(“enclosure”),ultimately fromProto-Indo-European*(s)ker-(“to bend, turn”)) +-ārius(suffix forming nouns denoting an agent of use).

The word was present as LateOld Englishcanceler,cancheler,fromNormancancheler,but was displaced in the 13th century by the Old French and Anglo-Norman forms mentioned above.[2]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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chancellor(pluralchancellors)

  1. Aseniorsecretaryorofficialwithadministrativeorlegalduties,sometimesin chargeof someareaofgovernmentsuch asfinanceorjustice.
    Chancellorof the Duchy of Lancaster
    LordChancellor
    • 1533September 6,Stephen Vaughan,“CCCLXXVI. Vaughan to KingHenry VIII.”,inState Papers Published under the Authority of Her Majesty’s Commission,volumes VII (King Henry the Eighth. Part V.—Continued.), London: Printed byGeorge E[dward]Eyre and William Spottiswoode,[…],published1849,→OCLC,page502:
      The 6thdaye after, the Duke beyng infourmyd of myne arryvayle, sent hisChancellourto myne inne, desyryng to knowe the cause of my comying tether;[…]
    • 1603,Thomas Rymer,Robert Sanderson, “De Liberatura pro Domino Cancellario Angliæ”, inFœdera, Conventiones, Literæ, et Cujuscunque Generis Acta Publica, inter Regis Angliæ,[…],2nd edition, volume XVI, London: PerJ[acob] Tonson,published1727,→OCLC,page541,column 1:
      We have in the Wiſedome and Dexteritie of, our right truſty and wellbeloved Counſellor,Thomas Lord Elleſmere,and for certen other eſpeciall Cauſes Us moving, have given and graunted unto the ſaidThomas Lord Elleſmerethe Office of our LordChauncellorof England, and given Aucthority to the ſaidLord Elleſmereto heare examyne and determyne Cauſes Matters and Suytes as ſhall happen to bee, as well in our Chauncery as in our Starchamber, like as theChauncellorof England or Keeper of the Greate Seale of England,[…]
    • [1746?]October 25,“Lettre surJean Faust,&c. That is, A Letter Concerning John Faust, Printer of Mentz. By a Librarian of Geneva. Geneva, 1745.”, in [Mark Akenside], editor,The Museum: Or, The Literary and Historical Register,volume II, number XVI, London: Printed forR[obert]Dodsley[…],published 1746 (indicated on title page),→OCLC,page106:
      But tho' this Family might make an honourable Figure at the Bar, yet it ſeems a little unaccountable how aChancellorof theBourbonnoiscame to be charg'd with the Reformation of the wholeFrenchKingdom.
    • 1882November 25 (first performance),W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert,Arthur Sullivan,music,[…]Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri,London:Chappell & Co.,[…],published[1885?],→OCLC,act I,page10:
      And everyone who'd marry a Ward / Must come to me for my accord, / And in my court I sit all day, / Giving agreeable girls away, /[…]/ And one for thou—and one for thee— / But never, oh never a one for me! / Which is exasperating, for / A highly susceptibleChancellor!
    • 1923,W[illiam] S[earle] Holdsworth,“English Law in the Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries (Continued): Developments outside the Sphere of the Common Law (Continued)”, inA History of English Law,volume V, London:Methuen & Co. Ltd.[…],→OCLC,part II (The Equitable Jurisdiction of the Chancellor),pages235–236:
      Thechancellor[i.e.,theLord Chancellor] is the king's delegate, accountable only to him for his use of his absolute power to purge the defendant's conscience. But we can see in the citation of cases and precedents the influence of the new school of lawyerchancellors.The usages and customs of the court are a law to the court. It is fairly clear that the process which will reduce to rule and system the occasions upon which thechancellorwill interfere to purge a corrupt conscience, has not as yet gone very far; but we can see in embryo the beginnings of this process.
    1. (UK politics)EllipsisofChancellor of the Exchequer.
      • [1760,Edward, Earl of Clarendon [i.e.,Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon], “Part the Second”, inThe Life of Edward, Earl of Clarendon, Lord High Chancellor of England, and Chancellor of the University of Oxford.[…],volume I, Oxford, Oxfordshire: At theClarendon Printing-house,→OCLC,pages111 and 112:
        [page 111][…]LordFalkland[…]took an Opportunity to tell theKing,that He had now a good Opportunity to prefer Mr.Hyde,by making himChancellorof the Exchequer, in the Place of SirJohn Colepepper;[…][page 112] He [Colepepper] ſurrendered his Office ofChancellorof the Exchequer: And the next Day Mr.Hydewas ſworn of the Privy-Council, and Knighted, and had his Patents ſealed for that Office.]
      • 2019July 5, “Philip Hammond: MPs will and should Stop No-deal Brexit”, inBBC News‎[1],archived fromthe originalon8 July 2019:
        ChancellorPhilip Hammondhas told the BBC he and other MPs will "find a way" of blocking a no-deal Brexit.[…]Mr Hammond is expected to be replaced aschancellorwhoever wins the Conservative leadership election later this month.
      • 2022October 14, “Liz Truss sacks Kwasi Kwarteng before corporation tax U-turn”, inThe Guardian‎[2]:
        Liz Truss has sacked Kwasi Kwarteng as herchancellorand replaced him with Jeremy Hunt ahead of a U-turn on key sections of her disastrous mini-budget, as she launched a desperate attempt to restore her crumbling political authority.
  2. Theheadof the government in someGerman-speakingcountries.
    Synonym:(historical)Reichskanzler
    the AustrianChancellor
    • 1913December 13, “The Scandal in Alsace. Indignation of the Reichstag.”, inThe North-China Herald and Supreme Court & Consular Gazette: The Weekly Edition of the North-China Daily News,volume CIX (New Series), number2418,Shanghai: Printed and published at the offices of the North-China Daily News & Herald, Ld.,→OCLC,page783,column 1:
      In the Reichstag, the ImperialChancellor,Dr.[Theobald] von Bethmann-Hollweg,replied to questions upon theZabern incidentin a tone of protest and anger which has not been heard since the Morocco debate. Half the House itself was seething with indignation against the Government.
    • 2003,Owen Chadwick,A History of the Popes, 1830-1914,Oxford University Press, USA,→ISBN,page194:
      He was a moderate who wanted German unity and becameChancellorof Bavaria after the Prussian defeat of Austria.
    • 2018October 29, “Angela Merkel to Step down as German Chancellor in 2021”, inBBC News‎[3],archived fromthe originalon30 June 2019:
      Germany'sAngela Merkelhas said she will step down aschancellorin 2021, following recent election setbacks. "I will not be seeking any political post after my term ends," she told a news conference in Berlin.
  3. (Christianity)A seniorrecord keeperof acathedral;a senior legal officer for abishopordiocesein charge ofhearingcasesinvolvingecclesiasticallaw.
    • 1907November 20,W. T. P.,“The Consistory Court of St. Asaph”, inBye-gones Relating to Wales and the Border Counties,volume X (New Series), Oswestry, Shropshire, Wrexham, Denbighshire: Woodall, Minshall, Thomas and Co.; London:Elliot Stock[…],→OCLC,page139:
      TheChancellor,as he is commonly called, who presides in the Diocesan Court, is appointed by the Bishop to the two ancient offices of Vicar General and Official Principal. When the Bishop, as was frequently the case, was absent from the Diocese, or for any other reason was unable to act in person, the Vicar General, as the name denotes, was his usual representative, while the exercise of his judicial authority he delegated to the Official Principal. For a long period of time the two offices have been always held together, and theChancellorsometimes acts in one capacity and sometimes in the other.
  4. (education)The head of auniversity,sometimes purelyceremonial.
    • 1902,Frederick Douglas How, “The Marquis of Salisbury”, in Donald Macleod, editor,Good Words,London: Isbister and Company Limited[…],→OCLC,section II (Oxford Days),pages141–142:
      When the extremely arduous duties of the Prime Minister’s [Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury’s] political life are considered, it will be understood that, if the Chancellorship of the University entailed any serious amount of work, it would have been impossible for him to continue in the office. As a matter of fact, this is not the case. There areChancellor’s Prizes which he gives, but he does not present them in person. There is aChancellor’s Court to which University men may be summoned, but it is invariably presided over by the Vice-Chancellor, who is, in fact, the one really executive authority. Sometimes theChancellorheads deputations to Court, and sometimes (but rarely) he comes to [theUniversity of] Oxfordto preside over some special function, when his weighty words are greatly valued.
  5. (Scots law)Theforemanof ajury.
    • 1818July 25,Jedadiah Cleishbotham[pseudonym;Walter Scott], chapter XII, inTales of My Landlord, Second Series,[…](The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume II, Edinburgh:[…][James Ballantyne and Co.] forArchibald Constable and Company,→OCLC,pages285–286:
      "Have you agreed on yourchancellor,gentlemen? "was the first question of the Judge. The foreman, called in Scotland thechancellorof the jury, usually the man of best rank and estimation among the assizers, stepped forward, and, with a low reverence, delivered to the Court a sealed paper, containing the verdict,[…]
    • 1826,Robert Bell, William Bell, “CRIMINAL PROSECUTION”, inA Dictionary of the Law of Scotland,3rd revised and enlarged edition, volume I, Edinburgh: Printed for John Anderson & Co.[…],and Bell & Bradfute,→OCLC,page333:
      The verdict must be returned to the Court by thechancellorof the jury, in presence of the accused, and of the whole jury; and, being engrossed in the record, and read aloud, it is then sealed up, in terms of the regulations 1672, No. 9, and deposited with the clerk of Court, never to be opened again but by order of the judges. The verdict, when in writing, is authenticated by the subscriptions of thechancellorand clerk of the jury, and accompanied with a list of the names of the jurors, and a state of the vote of each individual, "whether condemning or assoilzieing;"Regulations1672, No. 9.
    • 1853July 16, Geo[rge]Dingwall Fordyce (reporter), James Paterson (reporter), William Gillies Tytler (reporter),Frederick Hallard(reporter), “James Mackenzie,Pursuer, v.Dunlop, Wilsonand Co.,Defenders.”,inReports of Cases Decided in the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and in the House of Lords on Appeal from Scotland,[<span title= "[…]Being a Continuation of The Scottish Jurist. ">…],volume XXV, Edinburgh: M. Anderson and Co.,[…],page558,column 2:
      [T]he pursuer moved the Court "for a rule to shew cause why this case should not be ordered to be tried, in respect that the verdict as it appears on the notes of the Judge furnished to the parties, was not declared by thechancelloror foreman of the jury in open Court, and taken down by the clerk of the said Court before the jury was discharged. "
  6. (US,law)Thechiefjudgeof acourtofchancery(that is, oneexercisingequityjurisdiction).
    • 1821–1822,“Virginia State Law and Regulations”, inWilliam Griffith,editor,Annual Law Register of the United States,volume III, Burlington, N.J.: David Allinson, published1822,→OCLC,paragraph VI (The “Superiour Courts of Chancery” ),page321,column 1:
      The state [of Virginia, USA] is divided into 9 chancery districts, in each of which asuperiour court of chanceryis held. There are 4chancellors.
    • 1864,John Bouvier,“CHANCERY”, inA Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America,[…],11th edition, volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.:George W[illiam]Childs,[…],→OCLC,paragraph 3,page219,column 2:
      In some of the states, as New York, Virginia, and South Carolina, the equity court is a distinct tribunal, having its appropriate judge, orchancellor,and officers.
    • 1985,“John Blair: Appointment as Associate Justice in 1789”, inMaeva Marcus,James R. Perry, editors,The Documentary History of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1789–1800,volumes 1, part 1 (Appointments and Proceedings), New York, N.Y.:Columbia University Press,→ISBN,page54:
      [John] Blair [Jr.] began his long judicial career when the state legislature—following the establishment of Virginia's judicial department in October, 1777—elected him one of five judges of the newly organized General Court. By 1779 he had become chief justice of that court, and, in November, 1780, he becamechancellorof the three-member High Court of Chancery.

Alternative forms

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Coordinate terms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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short forChancellor of the Exchequer—seeChancellor of the Exchequer

Notes

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  1. ^From theFrick CollectioninNew York City,New York,USA.

References

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  1. ^“chauncelẹ̄r,n.(1)”,inMED Online,Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007,retrieved2 November 2018.
  2. ↑2.02.1“chancellor,n.”,inOED OnlinePaid subscription required⁠,Oxford, Oxfordshire:Oxford University Press,1889;“chancellor”,inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.

Further reading

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