alderman

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al·der·man / ˈôldərmən/ • n. (pl. -men) an elected member of a municipal council. ∎  (in England before 1974) a member of a county or borough council, next in status to the Mayor. ∎  (in Anglo-Saxon England) a noble serving the king as a chief officer in a district or shire. DERIVATIVES: al·der·man·ic / ˌôldərˈmanik/ adj. al·der·man·ship / -ˌship/ n. ORIGIN: Old English aldormann (originally in the general sense ‘a man of high rank’), from aldor, ealdor ‘chief, patriarch,’ from ald ‘old’ + man. Later the sense ‘warden of a guild’ arose; then, as the guilds became identified with the ruling municipal body, ‘local magistrate, municipal officer,’ the status and method of appointment varying in different times and places.

alderman (Old English ealdorman, ‘elderman’) A title dating from the Anglo-Saxon period when ealdormen, nobles by birth, exercised considerable powers. They were initially appointed by the crown to administer the shire system (particularly the shire moot or assembly and fyrd). By the 10th century their influence extended beyond the shire, and in the early 11th century their title evolved into ‘earl’. Under the Norman kings the senior shire official was the sheriff, and the title alderman later came to apply to those who held municipal office.

alderman †man of high rank OE.; †warden of a guild XII; (hence) magistrate of a borough. OE. aldormann, f. aldor (ealdor) chief, prince (f. OLD) + MAN.
Hence aldermanic XVIII.

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