provost Hear it!

provost definition

pro·vost (prō′vōst′, präv′əst; esp. in military use prō′vō′)

noun

  1. a superintendent; official in charge
  2. the chief magistrate of a Scottish burgh
  3. Obsolete a jailer
  4. Eccles. the head of a cathedral chapter or principal church
  5. Educ.
    1. the head of any of certain colleges in the British Isles
    2. ☆ in certain American universities, an administrative official dealing chiefly with faculty, curriculum, etc.

Etymology: ME < OE profost & OFr provost, both < ML propositus, for L praepositus, chief, prefect, orig. pp. of praeponere, to set before, place first < prae-, before + ponere, to place: see pre- & position

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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