Stadtholder

//ˈstætˌhoʊldɚ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The chief magistrate, then later, hereditary chief of state of the Dutch Republic. historical

    "For decades, no stadtholder who would counterbalance the power of the Amsterdam regents had been appointed."

  2. 2
    An office formerly held by Danish and Swedish officials, best translated as governor-general. historical

Synonyms

All synonyms
beycollectorgovernornabobproconsulprovincial

Example

More examples

"For decades, no stadtholder who would counterbalance the power of the Amsterdam regents had been appointed."

Etymology

Adapted from Dutch stadhouder (literally “city holder”) (obsolete spelling: stadthouder), calqued from Medieval Latin locum tenēns.

Related phrases

governor general

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.