Mayor

Mayor

Noun · /mɛər/

Definition

The elected or appointed head of a municipal government; the chief official of a city, town, or borough, typically with executive, ceremonial, or both types of authority depending on the constitutional arrangements of the jurisdiction.

Origin

From Old French maire, from Latin maior (greater, elder, from magnus, great). The same root gives major, majority, and magistrate. The mayor as an office developed from the Roman magistracy through the medieval commune system. In Britain, the Lord Mayor of London is the head of the City of London Corporation, a distinct figure from the Mayor of London who heads the Greater London Authority.