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Definition of provostship - 2 dictionary results

pro⋅vost

  [proh-vohst, prov-uhst or, especially in military usage, proh-voh]
Use provostship in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person appointed to superintend or preside.
2. an administrative officer in any of various colleges and universities who holds high rank and is concerned with the curriculum, faculty appointments, etc.
3. Ecclesiastical. the chief dignitary of a cathedral or collegiate church.
4. the steward or bailiff of a medieval manor or an officer of a medieval administrative district.
5. the mayor of a municipality in Scotland.
6. Obsolete. a prison warden.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE profost < ML prōpositus abbot, prior, provost, lit., (one) placed before, L: ptp. of prōpōnere. See pro- 1 , posit

Related forms:
pro⋅vost⋅ship, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

provost 
O.E. profost, from M.L. propositus (reinforced by O.Fr. cognate provost), from L. propositus, præpositus "a chief, prefect" (cf. O.Prov. probost, O.H.G. probost, Ger. Propst), lit. "placed before, in charge of," from pp. of præponere "put before" (see preposition). Provost marshal first recorded 1513.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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