noun
- Obsolete an official secretary to a nobleman or, esp., a king
- Rare the chief secretary of an embassy or consulate
- any of several high officials in the British government, sometimes with judicial powers
- the title of the president or a high executive officer in some universities
- the prime minister in certain countries
- ☆ a chief judge of a court of chancery or equity in some states of the U.S.
- R.C.Ch. the title of the priest in charge of a diocesan chancery
Origin:
ME < chanceler < OFr < LL cancellarius, secretary, lit., keeper of the barrier: so called from the lattice behind which he worked: see cancel