What does "chancellor" mean?
A senior secretary or official with administrative or legal duties, sometimes in charge of some area of government such as finance or justice.
Chancellor
/ˈtʃɑːnsələ/ name, noun
name, noun ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A senior secretary or official with administrative or legal duties, sometimes in charge of some area of government such as finance or justice.
- Grammar: chancellor is listed as name, noun.
- Nearest alternatives: premier, prime minister, academic dean, administration.
- Useful contrasts: defendant, litigant, nonleader.
- Usage evidence: The German Chancellor is plagued by immigration problems.
How to use "chancellor"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "chancellor" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "chancellor" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "chancellor" is acting as name, noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
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3. Confirm with context
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Final meaning check
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When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A senior secretary or official with administrative or legal duties, sometimes in charge of some area of government such as finance or justice.
"Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster"
- 2 An honorific for the head of state in various German-speaking states.
"The other option – typified by the unapologetically noncharismatic leaders of Britain and Germany, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Friedrich Merz – has been to persuade the electorate they’ll work hard to deliver sustainable policy results on issues like immigration, and above all, economic growth, in a way that tub-thumping populists simply cannot."
- 3 the honorary or titular head of a university wordnet
- 4 A senior secretary or official with administrative or legal duties, sometimes in charge of some area of government such as finance or justice.; Ellipsis of Chancellor of the Exchequer. UK, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
"[page 111] […] Lord Falkland […] took an Opportunity to tell the King, that He had now a good Opportunity to prefer Mr. Hyde, by making him Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the Place of Sir John Colepepper; […] [page 112] He [Colepepper] ſurrendered his Office of Chancellor of the Exchequer: And the next Day Mr. Hyde was ſworn of the Privy-Council, and Knighted, and had his Patents ſealed for that Office."
- 5 Ellipsis of Chancellor of the Exchequer. UK, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 the person who is head of government (in several countries) wordnet
- 7 The head of the government in some German-speaking countries.
"the Austrian Chancellor"
- 8 the British cabinet minister responsible for finance wordnet
- 9 A senior record keeper of a cathedral; a senior legal officer for a bishop or diocese in charge of hearing cases involving ecclesiastical law.
"The Chancellor, as he is commonly called, who presides in the Diocesan Court, is appointed by the Bishop to the two ancient offices of Vicar General and Official Principal. When the Bishop, as was frequently the case, was absent from the Diocese, or for any other reason was unable to act in person, the Vicar General, as the name denotes, was his usual representative, while the exercise of his judicial authority he delegated to the Official Principal. For a long period of time the two offices have been always held together, and the Chancellor sometimes acts in one capacity and sometimes in the other."
- 10 The head of a university, sometimes purely ceremonial.
"When the extremely arduous duties of the Prime Minister’s [Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury’s] political life are considered, it will be understood that, if the Chancellorship of the University entailed any serious amount of work, it would have been impossible for him to continue in the office. As a matter of fact, this is not the case. There are Chancellor’s Prizes which he gives, but he does not present them in person. There is a Chancellor’s Court to which University men may be summoned, but it is invariably presided over by the Vice-Chancellor, who is, in fact, the one really executive authority. Sometimes the Chancellor heads deputations to Court, and sometimes (but rarely) he comes to [the University of] Oxford to preside over some special function, when his weighty words are greatly valued."
- 11 The foreman of a jury.
""Have you agreed on your chancellor, gentlemen?" was the first question of the Judge. The foreman, called in Scotland the chancellor of the jury, usually the man of best rank and estimation among the assizers, stepped forward, and, with a low reverence, delivered to the Court a sealed paper, containing the verdict, […]"
- 12 The chief judge of a court of chancery (that is, one exercising equity jurisdiction). US
"The state [of Virginia, USA] is divided into 9 chancery districts, in each of which a superiour court of chancery is held. There are 4 chancellors."
- 13 A fairy chess piece which combines the moves of the rook and the knight.
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
- 2 A hamlet in Wheatland County, Alberta, Canada, named after the Chancellor of Germany by settlers.
- 3 A place in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Geneva County, Alabama.
- 4 A place in the United States:; A town in Turner County, South Dakota, named for Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
- 5 A place in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The German Chancellor is plagued by immigration problems."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "chancellor"?
Common synonyms include: premier, prime minister, academic dean, administration, administrator, alderman.
How do you use "chancellor" in a sentence?
The German Chancellor is plagued by immigration problems.
How do you pronounce "chancellor"?
Pronounced /ˈtʃɑːnsələ/.
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman or Middle English chaunceler, chanceler, canceler (“chief administrative or executive officer of a ruler; chancellor, secretary; private secretary, scribe; Lord Chancellor of England; officer of the ruler's exchequer; a high administrative or executive officer (for example, a deputy or representative of a bishop; the head of a university)”), from Old French cancelier, chancelier (“chancellor”), from Late Latin cancellārius (“secretary; doorkeeper, porter; usher of a court of law stationed at the bars separating the public from the judges”), from Latin cancellī (plural of cancellus (“grate; bars, barrier; railings”), diminutive of cancer (“grid; barrier”), from Proto-Italic *karkros (“enclosure”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to bend, turn”)) + -ārius (suffix forming nouns denoting an agent of use). The word was present as Late Old English canceler, cancheler, from Norman cancheler, but was displaced in the 13th century by the Old French and Anglo-Norman forms mentioned above.