provost.
One placed in charge: a head, a chief
Meaning & usage
One placed in charge: a head, a chief A dean: the head of a cathedral chapter.
One placed in charge: a head, a chief The head of various other ecclesiastical bodies, even (rare, obsolete) muezzins.
One placed in charge: a head, a chief The minister of the chief Protestant church of a town or region in Germany, the Low Countries, and Scandinavia.
One placed in charge: a head, a chief The head of various colleges and universities.
One placed in charge: a head, a chief A ruler.
One placed in charge: a head, a chief A mayor: the chief magistrate of a town, particularly (Scotland) the head of a burgh or (historical) the former chiefs of various towns in France, Flanders, or (by extension) other Continental European countries.
A senior deputy, a superintendent A prior: an abbot's second-in-command.
A senior deputy, a superintendent A senior deputy administrator; a vice-president of academic affairs.
A senior deputy, a superintendent A steward or seneschal: a medieval agent given management of a feudal estate or charged with collecting fees.
A senior deputy, a superintendent A title of the archangel Michael.
A senior deputy, a superintendent Any manager or overseer in a medieval or early modern context.
A senior deputy, a superintendent A viceroy.
A senior deputy, a superintendent A governor.
A senior deputy, a superintendent A reeve.
A senior deputy, a superintendent The head of various Roman offices, such as prefect and praetor.
A senior deputy, a superintendent A constable: a medieval or early modern official charged with arresting, holding, and punishing criminals.
A senior deputy, a superintendent An officer of the military police, particularly provost marshal or provost sergeant.
A senior deputy, a superintendent An assistant fencing master.
A provost cell: a military cell or prison.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English, from late Old English prōfost, prāfost, from Late Latin prōpositus, variant of Latin praepositus (“[one] placed in command”). In some senses, via Anglo-Norman provolt; via Anglo-Norman and Old French provost (modern French prévôt). As a Central European ecclesiastical office, via German Propst, Danish provst, etc.
To be delivered to a provost marshal for punishment.
Around the time of the Rebellions of 1837 and the First Anglo-Afghan War, British servicemen spoke of being provosted.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English, from late Old English prōfost, prāfost, from Late Latin prōpositus, variant of Latin praepositus (“[one] placed in command”). In some senses, via Anglo-Norman provolt; via Anglo-Norman and Old French provost (modern French prévôt). As a Central European ecclesiastical office, via German Propst, Danish provst, etc.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.