Word.ws English Dictionary

provost

UK/ˈpɹɒvəst//ˈpɹoʊvoʊst/

provost noun: a dean: the head of a cathedral chapter.

Noun

provost (plural provosts)

  1. (historical) A dean: the head of a cathedral chapter.
    Synonyms:
    dean
  2. The head of various other ecclesiastical bodies, even (rare, obsolete) muezzins.
  3. The minister of the chief Protestant church of a town or region in Germany, the Low Countries, and Scandinavia.
  4. (UK) The head of various colleges and universities.
    Synonyms:
    president, dean
  5. (obsolete) A ruler.
  6. A mayor: the chief magistrate of a town, particularly (Scotland) the head of a burgh or (historical) the former chiefs of various towns in France, Flanders, or (by extension) other Continental European countries.
    • The repairs were completed in the summer of last year, more than ten months after the line had been closed, and the branch was re-opened on June 29, when Mr. T. F. Cameron, Chief Regional Officer, Scottish Region, received Provost J. S. Collin, of Eyemouth, at the station. The 12.42. p.m. train to...1950 January, “Re-Opening of the Eyemouth Branch”, in Railway Magazine, page 52
    Synonyms:
    mayor
  7. (historical) A prior: an abbot's second-in-command.
  8. (US) A senior deputy administrator; a vice-president of academic affairs.
    • The provost of the University of Massachusetts has reversed a decision by faculty personnel committees not to renew the contracts of two professors engaged in sex research.1982 August 21, Keith Beasley, “U/Mass Professors To Keep Positions Despite Controversy”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 6, page 3
    • The princess, already a serious and diligent child, was given lessons on constitutional matters by Sir Henry Marten, the provost of Eton, and became aware even then that she should not show emotion and must maintain a certain reserve.2022 September 8, Stephen Bates, “Queen Elizabeth II obituary”, in The Guardian
  9. (historical) A steward or seneschal: a medieval agent given management of a feudal estate or charged with collecting fees.
  10. (obsolete, sometimes) A title of the archangel Michael.
  11. (historical) Any manager or overseer in a medieval or early modern context.
  12. (obsolete) A viceroy.
Show 7 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. (obsolete) A governor.
  2. (obsolete) A reeve.
    Synonyms:
    reeve
  3. (obsolete) The head of various Roman offices, such as prefect and praetor.
    Synonyms:
    prefect and praetor
  4. (historical) A constable: a medieval or early modern official charged with arresting, holding, and punishing criminals.
    • Here comes Signor Claudio, led by the provost
      to prison;c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  5. An officer of the military police, particularly provost marshal or provost sergeant.
  6. (historical) An assistant fencing master.
  7. (UK, obsolete, slang) A provost cell: a military cell or prison.

Verb

provost (third-person singular simple present provosts, present participle provosting, simple past and past participle provosted)

  1. (UK, obsolete, slang, transitive) To be delivered to a provost marshal for punishment.
    • Around the time of the Rebellions of 1837 and the First Anglo-Afghan War, British servicemen spoke of being provosted.

Proper noun capitalized: Provost

Provost

  1. A surname originating as an occupation for a provost.

provost meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

provost in Hindi

प्रोवोस्ट, प्रोवोस्ट करें

provost in Tamil

மேதகர்

provost in Marathi

प्रोवोस्ट, प्रोव्होस्ट, प्रोव्हॉस्ट

provost in Urdu

پروووسٹ, پرووسٹ, پروووست
More languagesFewer languages
provost in Bengali
প্রভোস্ট, প্রোভোস্ট
provost in Telugu
ప్రొవోస్ట్, ప్రోవోస్ట్, ప్రొవొస్ట్
provost in Malayalam
പ്രൊവോസ്റ്റ്, പ്രോവോസ്റ്റ്
provost in Kannada
ಪ್ರೊವೊಸ್ಟ್, ಪ್ರೊವೋಸ್ಟ್, ಪ್ರೋವೋಸ್ಟ್
provost in Punjabi
ਪ੍ਰੋਵੋਸਟ, ਪ੍ਰੋਵੌਸਟ
provost in Gujarati
પ્રોવોસ્ટ, પ્રોવૉસ્ટ
provost in Odia
ପ୍ରୋଭୋଷ୍ଟ, ପ୍ରଭୋସ୍ଟ
provost in Nepali
प्रोभोस्ट, प्रोवोस्ट, प्रभोस्ट

Synonyms of provost

1 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of provost

Forms of provost

Noun
pluralprovosts
Verb
third-person singular presentprovosts
present participleprovosting
past participleprovosted
pastprovosted
Proper noun
alternative formProvis

Plural of provost: provosts

Origin of provost

From Middle English, from late Old English prōfost, prāfost, from Late Latin prōpositus, variant of Latin praepositus (“[one] placed in command”). In some senses, via Anglo-Norman provolt; via Anglo-Norman and Old French provost (modern French prévôt). As a Central European ecclesiastical office, via German Propst, Danish provst, etc.

Words formed from provost

Phrases with provost

Questions about provost

What does provost mean?
Provost means a dean: the head of a cathedral chapter.
What is provost in Hindi?
Provost in Hindi is प्रोवोस्ट, प्रोवोस्ट करें. See Provost meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is provost?
Provost can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce provost?
Provost is pronounced /ˈpɹɒvəst/ (UK).
What is the plural of provost?
The plural of provost is provosts.

Words near provost in the dictionary

  1. provoletas
  2. provolone
  3. provolones
  4. provolunteering
  5. provos
  6. provost
  7. provost marshal
  8. provostal
  9. provosted
  10. provostess
  11. provostesses

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: provost (page history and authors); Provost (page history and authors); provost (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); provost (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); provost (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); provost (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); provost (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); provost (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); provost (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); provost (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); provost (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); provost (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); provost (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); provost (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-provost.wav.

Cite this entry: “provost.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/provost. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.