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magistrate

UK/ˈmæd͡ʒ.ɪˌstɹeɪt/US/ˈmæd͡ʒ.ɪˌstɹeɪt/
nounC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #7,174 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: magistrates

A magistrate is a local judge who hears smaller cases. Appear before the magistrate, the magistrates' court, a lay magistrate.

In England and Wales most of them are volunteers with no legal training, sitting in threes and advised by a qualified clerk — and they deal with the great majority of criminal cases. The system is very old and rests on the idea of judgement by ordinary people.

Christophe Veyrier · CC0

Definitions of magistrate

  1. 1nounmagistrateA local judge who hears smaller cases.C1

    “He appeared before a magistrate charged with shoplifting.”

magistrate is a judge.

Where it comes from

Latin magistratus means a public office or officer, from magister, a master or chief.

  1. Latin

    magistrātus

  2. Middle English

    magistrat — magistrate; magistracy

  3. English, today

    magistrate

From Middle English magistrat (“magistrate; magistracy”), borrowed from Latin magistrātus. See also -ate.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Crime & Law

Practise this word

magistrate in the wild

  • The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law.

    Magistrate

  • Today, in some jurisdictions, a magistrate is a judicial officer who hears cases in a lower court, and typically deals with more minor or preliminary matters.

    Magistrate

  • A chief magistrate is a public official, executive or judicial, whose office is the highest in its class.

    Chief magistrate

  • Archon basileus was a Greek title, meaning "king magistrate"; the term is derived from the words archon "magistrate" and basileus "king" or "sovereign".

    Archon basileus

  • During the period of the Roman Kingdom, the King of Rome was the principal executive magistrate.

    Roman magistrate

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.