mayor
Syllables: may·orUK/ˈmɛə̯//ˈmeɪ̯.ɚ/
mayor noun: the chief executive of the municipal government of a city, borough, etc., formerly (historical) usually appointed as a caretaker by European royal courts but now usually appointed or elected locally. Also the ellipsis of mayor of the palace.
Noun
mayor (plural mayors)
- The chief executive of the municipal government of a city, borough, etc., formerly (historical) usually appointed as a caretaker by European royal courts but now usually appointed or elected locally.
- The office of mayor has been the tomb of many political ambitions.1907 Sept. 12, The Nation, page 222
- When the burdens of the Presidency seem unusually heavy, I always remind myself that it could be worse—I could be a mayor of a city instead.1966 Mar. 31, Lyndon B. Johnson, Remarks before the National Legislative Conference of the National League of Cities
- Synonym of mair, various former officials in the Kingdom of Scotland.
- Synonyms:
- mair, various former officials in the Kingdom of Scotland
- A member of a city council.
- A high justice, an important judge.
- A largely ceremonial position in some municipal governments that presides over the city council while a contracted city manager holds actual executive power.
- A local VIP, a muckamuck or big shot reckoned to lead some local group.
- In some parts the burlesque civic official was designated ‘Mayor of the Pig Market’.1902 May 22, Westminster Gazette, p. 2
- The Mayor of Castro Street, that was Harvey's unofficial title.1982, Randy Shilts, The Mayor of Castro Street
Proper noun capitalized: Mayor
Mayor
- A surname from Anglo-Norman.
Also used as
mayor is also the ellipsis of mayor of the palace.
mayor meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
mayor in Hindi
- leader of a city
- महापौर mahāpaur, मेयर meyar
mayor in Tamil
- மேயர்
mayor in Marathi
- leader of a city
- महापौर mahāpaur
mayor in Urdu
- leader of a city
- رَئِیسِ بَلْدِیَہ raīs-i baldiya, میئَر mear
More languagesFewer languages
- mayor in Bengali
- মেয়র
- mayor in Telugu
- మేయర్, మేయరు
- mayor in Malayalam
- മേയർ
- mayor in Kannada
- ಮೇಯರ್
- mayor in Punjabi
- ਮੇਅਰ
- mayor in Gujarati
- મેયર
- mayor in Odia
- ମେଯ଼ର
- mayor in Nepali
- मेयर
- mayor in Pashto
- ښاروال x̌ārwāl
- mayor in Tagalog
- alkalde
- mayor in Arabic
- عُمْدَة ʕumda
- mayor in Malay
- datuk bandar
- mayor in Indonesian
- wali kota
- mayor in Thai
- นายกเทศมนตรี naa-yók-têet-sà-mon-dtrii, นายก naa-yók
- mayor in Vietnamese
- thị trưởng
- mayor in Myanmar
- မြို့တော်ဝန် mrui.tauwan
Examples of mayor in a sentence
- The mayor rewarded his cronies with cushy plums, requiring little work for handsome pay.
- The protesters were very vocal in their message to the mayor.
- The town opened the new library with fanfare and a speech from the mayor.
Synonyms of mayor
- mair
- various former officials in the Kingdom of Scotland
- mayoress
- burgomaster
- boroughmaster
- boroughreeve
- portreeve
- provost
- Lord Provost
- praetor
Forms of mayor
| plural | mayors |
|---|---|
| alternative form (obsolete) | maiere |
| alternative form (obsolete) | maieur |
| alternative form (obsolete) | mar |
| alternative form (obsolete) | mayere |
| alternative form (obsolete) | meer |
| alternative form (obsolete) | mehir |
| alternative form (obsolete) | meir |
| alternative form (obsolete) | meire |
| alternative form (obsolete) | mer |
| alternative form (obsolete) | mere |
| alternative form (obsolete) | meyhir |
| alternative form (obsolete) | meyr |
| alternative form (obsolete) | maier |
| alternative form (obsolete) | mayer |
| alternative form (obsolete) | mayr |
| alternative form (obsolete) | meyer |
| alternative form (obsolete) | meyre |
| alternative form (obsolete) | maiour |
| alternative form (obsolete) | mair |
Origin of mayor
From Middle English maire, from Old French maire (“head of a city or town government”), a substantivation of Old French maire (“greater”), from Latin maior (“bigger, greater, superior”), comparative of magnus (“big, great”). Doublet of major. Cognate with Old High German meior (“estate manager, steward, bailiff”) (modern German Meier), Middle Dutch meier (“administrator, steward, bailiff”) (modern Dutch meier). Displaced Old English burgealdor (“a ruler of a city, mayor, citizen”), burhġerēfa (“boroughreeve”), and portġerēfa (“portreeve”).
* As an English surname, variant of Mayer. * As a Spanish surname, from the adjective mayor (“older, elder”). * Also as a Spanish surname, from the archaic noun major (“mayor, chief”), itself related to the above. * As a Jewish surname, variant of Meyer.
Words formed from mayor
- lady mayor
- lord mayor
- mayoral
- mayoralty
- mayor-choosing
- mayor-corn
- mayor-council
- mayordom
- mayoress
- mayorhood
- mayorial
- mayorless
- mayorlet
- mayorlike
- mayorly
- mayor-making
- mayor's banquet
- mayor's court
- mayor's feast
- mayorsfeud
- mayorship
- mayor's peer
- mayor-town
- mayory
- supermayor
- weak mayor
Phrases with mayor
Words that rhyme with mayor
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- declare
- hair
- Sinclair
- where
- ayr
- care
- layer
- parterre
- fare
- glare
- lair
- pear
- prayer
- snare
- compare
- dare
- rare
- share
- swear
- ware
- wear and tear
- Ayer
- blare
- flair
- forbear
- Kerr
- laissez faire
- mousquetaire
- pare
- prepare
- repair
- stare
- unfair
- yare
- -ware
- abear
- aflare
- despair
- glair
- heir
- impair
- Pierre
- reair
- scare
- tare
- trillionaire
- Voltaire
- aware
Questions about mayor
- What does mayor mean?
- Mayor means the chief executive of the municipal government of a city, borough, etc., formerly (historical) usually appointed as a caretaker by European royal courts but now usually appointed or elected locally.
- What is mayor in Hindi?
- Mayor in Hindi is महापौर (mahāpaur), मेयर (meyar). See Mayor meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is mayor?
- Mayor can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce mayor?
- Mayor is pronounced /ˈmɛə̯/ (UK).
- What is the plural of mayor?
- The plural of mayor is mayors.
Words near mayor in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: mayor (page history and authors); Mayor (page history and authors); mayor (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mayor (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mayor (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mayor (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mayor (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mayor (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mayor (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mayor (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mayor (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-mayor.ogg.
Cite this entry: “mayor.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mayor. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.