mayor
Pluralmayors
- 1The head of the government of a city or town, usually elected; in some places, such as US council-manager cities, a largely ceremonial office that chairs the council.
After winning a second term, the mayor promised to hire more bus drivers and repair the city's oldest bridges.
Voters in several cities will choose their mayors in next month's election.
UsageUsually no article after run for, elected or become: she ran for mayor. Before a name it is a title: Mayor Lopez.
Note
The office has a reputation for thankless, never-ending problems. In March 1966 Lyndon B. Johnson joked that when the presidency felt especially heavy, he reminded himself it could be worse: he could be the mayor of a city instead.
- 2A local VIP or big shot regarded as the leading figure of some local group.
After thirty years on the same block, old Frank was the unofficial mayor of the neighborhood.
Having run the corner bakery for thirty years, Luis is the unofficial mayor of the neighborhood, and newcomers are sent to him first.
UsageUsually the unofficial mayor of a place: the mayor of the block. Often warm praise as much as a joke.
Note
The Westminster Gazette in 1902 describes a burlesque official styled "Mayor of the Pig Market," and Randy Shilts's The Mayor of Castro Street (1982) takes its title from Harvey Milk's unofficial name.
- 3A judge of high rank or importance; a senior justice.
Note
The word's literal "greater one" applied to the bench rather than the town hall. In this obsolete use, a mayor in an old text may be someone who tries cases rather than someone who governs a municipality. Today it appears only in historical description. Anywhere else, judge or justice is the word to use.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The word derives from a form meaning “greater,” supporting the literal gloss “greater one.” en.wiktionary.org
- In an obsolete sense, mayor means a high-ranking judge rather than a municipal governor. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 4Someone holding a seat on the council that governs a city.
Note
An old Irish usage in which the title could name an ordinary member of a city council, not only its head. Because it is rare and obsolete, it needs a gloss in modern writing, or readers will assume the single chief executive is meant.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Mayor has a rare, obsolete Irish sense meaning a city-council member. en.wiktionary.org
- 5Ellipsis of mayor of the palace.
- 6Any of various former officials in the Kingdom of Scotland, equivalent to a mair.
Practice
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Origin
The root is Latin magnus ('big, great'), whose comparative maior ('bigger, greater, superior') became Old French maire ('greater'). Used as a noun, that word came to mean 'head of a city or town government' and passed into Middle English as maire. 'Major' is its doublet, and Old High German meior ('steward, bailiff'), the source of modern German Meier, is related.