alderman - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

al·der·man

Audio Help [awl-der-muh

n] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -men.

1.	a member of a municipal legislative body, esp. of a municipal council.

2.	(in England) one of the members, chosen by the elected councilors, in a borough or county council.

Early English History.

a chief.

b.	(later) the chief magistrate of a county or group of counties.

4.	Northern U.S. Slang. a pot belly.

[Origin: bef. 900; ME; OE (e)aldormann, equiv. to ealdor chief, patriarch (eald old + -or n. suffix) + mann man¹

]

—Related forms

al·der·man·cy, al·der·man·ship, noun

al·der·man·ic

Audio Help [awl-der-man-ik] Pronunciation Key, adjective

—Usage note See -man.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
alderman

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

al·der·man Audio Help (ôl'dər-mən) Pronunciation Key
n. Abbr. Ald.

A member of the municipal legislative body in a town or city in many jurisdictions.
A member of the higher branch of the municipal or borough council in England and Ireland before 1974.
1. A noble of high rank or authority in Anglo-Saxon England.
2. The chief officer of a shire in Anglo-Saxon England.

[Middle English, a person of high rank, from Old English ealdorman : ealdor, elder, chief (from eald, old; see al-² in Indo-European roots) + man, man; see man.]

al'der·man·cy (-sē) n., al'der·man'ic (-mān'ĭk) adj.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
alderman

O.E. aldormonn (Mercian), ealdormann (W.Saxon), from aldor, ealder "patriarch" (comparative of ald "old") + monn, mann "man." A relic of the days when the elders were automatically in charge of the clan or tribe, but already in O.E. used for king's viceroys, regardless of age. The word yielded in O.E. to eorl, and after the Norman Conquest to count (n.). Meaning "headman of a guild" (1130) passed to "magistrate of a city" (c.1200) as the guilds became identified with municipal government.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

alderman
noun
a member of a municipal legislative body (as a city council); "aldermen usually represent city wards"

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
alderman [(awl-duhr-muhn)]

A member of a city council. Aldermen usually represent city districts, called wards, and work with the mayor to run the city government. Jockeying among aldermen for political influence is often associated with machine politics.

[Chapter:] American Politics

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Alderman

Al"der*man\ ([add]l"d[~e]r*man), n.; pl. Aldermen. [AS. aldormon, ealdorman; ealdor an elder + man. See Elder, n.]

1. A senior or superior; a person of rank or dignity. [Obs.]

Note: The title was applied, among the Anglo-Saxons, to princes, dukes, earls, senators, and presiding magistrates; also to archbishops and bishops, implying superior wisdom or authority. Thus Ethelstan, duke of the East-Anglians, was called Alderman of all England; and there were aldermen of cities, counties, and castles, who had jurisdiction within their respective districts.

3. One of a board or body of municipal officers next in order to the mayor and having a legislative function. They may, in some cases, individually exercise some magisterial and administrative functions.

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