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.

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