alderman : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: alderman	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for alderman
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
alderman n a member of a municipal legislative body (as a city council); "aldermen usually represent city wards"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Alderman \Al"derman\ ([add]l"d[etil]rm[ait]n), n.; pl. {Aldermen}. [AS. aldormon, ealdorman; ealdor an elder + man. See {Elder}, n.] 1. A senior or superior; a person of rank or dignity. [Obs.] Note: The title was applied, among the Anglo-Saxons, to princes, dukes, earls, senators, and presiding magistrates; also to archbishops and bishops, implying superior wisdom or authority. Thus Ethelstan, duke of the East-Anglians, was called Alderman of all England; and there were aldermen of cities, counties, and castles, who had jurisdiction within their respective districts. 3. One of a board or body of municipal officers next in order to the mayor and having a legislative function. They may, in some cases, individually exercise some magisterial and administrative functions.