[kon-stuh-buh
l or, especially Brit., kuhn-] 
| 1. | an officer of the peace, having police and minor judicial functions, usually in a small town, rural district, etc. |
| 2. | Chiefly British. a police officer. |
| 3. | an officer of high rank in medieval monarchies, usually the commander of all armed forces, esp. in the absence of the ruler. |
| 4. | the keeper or governor of a royal fortress or castle. |
[kuhn-stuh-buhl, kon-] | John, 1776–1837, English painter. |
| con·sta·ble (kŏn'stə-bəl, kŭn'-) n. Abbr. Cons. or Const.
[Middle English, from Old French conestable, from Late Latin comes stabulī, officer of the stable : Latin comes, officer, companion; see ei- in Indo-European roots + Latin stabulī, genitive of stabulum, stable; see stā- in Indo-European roots.] con'sta·ble·ship' n. |
| Con·sta·ble (kŭn'stə-bəl, kŏn'-) British landscape painter whose use of broken color influenced later French painters. The Hay Wain (1821) is his best-known work. |
constable
officer of state in western European countries from medieval times and also of certain executive legal officials in Great Britain and the United States. The title comes stabuli is found in the Roman and particularly in the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire from the 5th century AD as that of the head of the stables at the imperial court. The Franks borrowed the title, and under the Merovingian and Carolingian kings of western Europe the comes stabuli was in charge of the royal stud, with the marshal (marescallus) as his subordinate officer. In the 11th century the constable (connetable) of France became one of the five great officers of state, with limited powers of jurisdiction and with command of the cavalry. The constable's military duties and judicial powers increased until, by the mid-14th century, he held supreme military command of the army. After the treason of the constable Charles de Bourbon (1523), however, the kings distrusted the power of the office, and for many years in the 16th century it was allowed to remain vacant. It was eliminated in 1627, after the death of Francois de Bonne, Duke de Lesdiguieres, but was revived by Napoleon I, who appointed his brother Louis Bonaparte grand constable. It was finally abolished upon the restoration of the Bourbons.
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