chancellor
Syllables: chan·cel·lorUK/ˈtʃɑːnsələ/US/ˈt͡ʃænsələ/
chancellor noun: a senior secretary or official with administrative or legal duties, sometimes in charge of some area of government such as finance or justice. Also the ellipsis of Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Noun (1)
chancellor (plural chancellors)
- A senior secretary or official with administrative or legal duties, sometimes in charge of some area of government such as finance or justice.
- Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
- Lord Chancellor
- The head of the government in some German-speaking countries.
- the Austrian Chancellor
- In the Reichstag, the Imperial Chancellor, Dr. [Theobald] von Bethmann-Hollweg, replied to questions upon the Zabern incident in 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.1913 December 13, “The Scandal in Alsace. Indignation of the Reichstag.”, in The North-China Herald and Supreme Court & Consular Gazette: The Weekly Edition of the North-China Daily News, volume CIX...
- Synonyms:
- Reichskanzler
- A senior record keeper of a cathedral; a senior legal officer for a bishop or diocese in charge of hearing cases involving ecclesiastical law.
- The Chancellor, 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...1907 November 20, W. T. P., “The Consistory Court of St. Asaph”, in Bye-gones Relating to Wales and the Border Counties, volume X (New Series), Oswestry, Shropshire; Wrexham, Denbighshire: Woodall...
- The head of a university, sometimes purely ceremonial.
- 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...1902, Frederick Douglas How, “The Marquis of Salisbury”, in Donald Macleod, editor, Good Words, London: Isbister and Company Limited […], →OCLC, section II (Oxford Days), pages 141–142
- The foreman of a jury.
- "Have you agreed on your chancellor, gentlemen?" was the first question of the Judge. The foreman, called in Scotland the chancellor of 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...1818 July 25, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter XII, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and...
- The verdict must be returned to the Court by the chancellor of 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...1826, Robert Bell, William Bell, “CRIMINAL PROSECUTION”, in A Dictionary of the Law of Scotland, 3rd revised and enlarged edition, volume I, Edinburgh: Printed for John Anderson & Co. […], and Bell &...
- The chief judge of a court of chancery (that is, one exercising equity jurisdiction).
- The state [of Virginia, USA] is divided into 9 chancery districts, in each of which a superiour court of chancery is held. There are 4 chancellors.1821–1822, “Virginia State Law and Regulations”, in William Griffith, editor, Annual Law Register of the United States, volume III, Burlington, N.J.: David Allinson, published 1822, →OCLC, paragraph...
- In some of the states, as New York, Virginia, and South Carolina, the equity court is a distinct tribunal, having its appropriate judge, or chancellor, and officers.1864, John Bouvier, “CHANCERY”, in A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, […], 11th edition, volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: George W[illiam] Childs...
- A fairy chess piece which combines the moves of the rook and the knight.
Noun (2) capitalized: Chancellor
Chancellor (plural Chancellors)
- An honorific for the head of state in various German-speaking states.
- The other option – typified by the unapologetically noncharismatic leaders of Britain and Germany, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Friedrich Merz – has been to persuade the electorate they’ll work hard to deliver sustainable policy results on issues like immigration, and above all...2025 July 24, Ned Temko, “In Japan, too, voters want their country to be ‘great again’”, in The Christian Science Monitor, archived from the original on 27 Jul 2025
- Ellipsis of Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Proper noun capitalized: Chancellor
Chancellor
- A surname.
- A hamlet in Wheatland County, Alberta, Canada, named after the Chancellor of Germany by settlers.
- An unincorporated community in Geneva County, Alabama.
- A town in Turner County, South Dakota, named for Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
- An unincorporated community in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
Also used as
chancellor is also the ellipsis of Chancellor of the Exchequer.
chancellor meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
chancellor in Hindi
- 1. senior secretary or official with administrative or legal duties, sometimes in charge of some area of government
- चांसलर cānslar, चैंसेलर cainselar
- 2. head of government in some German-speaking countries
- चैंसेलर cainselar, चांसलर cānslar
- 4. head of a university
- कुलाधिपति kulādhipti, चांसलर cānslar, चैंसेलर cainselar
chancellor in Tamil
- 4. head of a university
- வேந்தர் vēntar
chancellor in Marathi
- 2. head of government in some German-speaking countries
- चांसेलर cāuselar
chancellor in Urdu
- 2. head of government in some German-speaking countries
- چانْسْلَر cānslar
More languagesFewer languages
- chancellor in Bengali
- চ্যান্সেলর cênśelor, মুহতামিম muhtamim
- chancellor in Arabic
- مُسْتَشَار mustašār, مُسْتَشَارَة mustašāra
- chancellor in Malay
- canselor
- chancellor in Indonesian
- kanselir
- chancellor in Thai
- นายกรัฐมนตรี naa-yók-rát-tà-mon-dtrii
- chancellor in Vietnamese
- tể tướng, thủ tướng
- chancellor in Myanmar
- အဓိပတိ a.dhi.pa.ti.
Examples of chancellor in a sentence
- The chancellor [i.e., the Lord Chancellor] is the king's delegate, accountable only to him for his use of his absolute power to purge the defendant's conscience.1923, W[illiam] S[earle] Holdsworth, “English Law in the Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries (Continued): Developments outside the...
- He was a moderate who wanted German unity and became Chancellor of Bavaria after the Prussian defeat of Austria.2003, Owen Chadwick, A History of the Popes, 1830-1914, Oxford University Press, USA, →ISBN, page 194:
- Germany's Angela Merkel has said she will step down as chancellor in 2021, following recent election setbacks.2018 October 29, “Angela Merkel to Step down as German Chancellor in 2021”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 30 Jun 2019:
- The Chancellor, 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.1907 November 20, W. T. P., “The Consistory Court of St. Asaph”, in Bye-gones Relating to Wales and the Border Counties, volume X (New...
Synonyms of chancellor
Forms of chancellor
| plural | chancellors |
|---|---|
| alternative form | chanceler |
| alternative form | chanceller |
| alternative form | chancellour |
| alternative form | chancelor |
| alternative form | chancelour |
| alternative form | chaunceler |
| alternative form | chaunceller |
| alternative form | chauncellor |
| alternative form | chauncellour |
| alternative form | chauncelor |
| alternative form | chauncelour |
| plural | Chancellors |
Origin of chancellor
From Anglo-Norman or Middle English chaunceler, 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)”), from Old French cancelier, chancelier (“chancellor”), from Late Latin cancellārius (“secretary; doorkeeper, porter; usher of a court of law stationed at the bars separating the public from the judges”), from Latin cancellī (plural of cancellus (“grate; bars, barrier; railings”), diminutive of cancer (“grid; barrier”), from Proto-Italic *karkros (“enclosure”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to bend, turn”)) + -ārius (suffix forming nouns denoting an agent of use). Equivalent to chancel + -or. Piecewise doublet of canceler. The word was present as Late Old English canceler, cancheler, from Norman cancheler, but was displaced in the 13th century by the Old French and Anglo-Norman forms mentioned above.
Words formed from chancellor
Phrases with chancellor
Questions about chancellor
- What does chancellor mean?
- Chancellor means a senior secretary or official with administrative or legal duties, sometimes in charge of some area of government such as finance or justice.
- What is chancellor in Hindi?
- Chancellor in Hindi is चांसलर (cānslar), चैंसेलर (cainselar), कुलाधिपति (kulādhipti). See Chancellor meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use chancellor in a sentence?
- The chancellor [i.e., the Lord Chancellor] is the king's delegate, accountable only to him for his use of his absolute power to purge the defendant's conscience.
- What part of speech is chancellor?
- Chancellor can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce chancellor?
- Chancellor is pronounced /ˈtʃɑːnsələ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of chancellor?
- The plural of chancellor is chancellors.
Words near chancellor in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: chancellor (page history and authors); Chancellor (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-chancellor.ogg.
Cite this entry: “chancellor.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chancellor. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.