Other forms: mayors
A mayor is the elected leader of a city or town. The mayor of London, elect a mayor, the mayor opened the new library.
What the job involves varies enormously. In some British towns the mayor is largely ceremonial, wears a chain and cuts ribbons; in London and several other cities the elected mayor holds real executive power. In America and much of Europe the mayor runs the city. Note the female form mayoress, which in Britain traditionally means the mayor's wife rather than a female mayor — a woman holding the office is the mayor. The office itself is the mayoralty.
1nounmayorThe elected head of a city or town.
“The mayor is up for re-election next spring.”
mayor is an elected office.
Old French maire came from Latin maior, greater — the same word as major. A mayor is literally the greater one, and the town's chief officer was named by simple comparison with everybody else in it.
Old French
maire
Middle English
maire
English, today
mayor
Built from
From Middle English maire, from Old French maire. From Middle English maire, from Old French maire (“head of a city or town government”), a substantivation of Old French maire (“greater”), from Latin maior (“bigger, greater, superior”), comparative of magnus (“big, great”). a doublet of major. Cognate with Old High German meior (“estate manager, steward, bailiff”) (modern German Meier), Middle Dutch meier (“administrator, steward, bailiff”) (modern Dutch meier). burgealdor, burhġerēfa (“boroughreeve”), and portġerēfa (“portreeve”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA