noun

1. Obsolete an official secretary to a nobleman or, esp., a king
2. Rare the chief secretary of an embassy or consulate
3. any of several high officials in the British government, sometimes with judicial powers
4. the title of the president or a high executive officer in some universities
5. the prime minister in certain countries
6. ☆ a chief judge of a court of chancery or equity in some states of the U.S.
7. R.C.Ch. the title of the priest in charge of a diocesan chancery

Etymology: ME < chanceler < OFr < LL cancellarius, secretary, lit., keeper of the barrier: so called from the lattice behind which he worked: see cancel