provost
noun
[ ˈprɒvəst ]
• the head of certain university colleges, especially at Oxford or Cambridge, and public schools.
• (in Scotland) the civic head of some regional Scottish councils, analogous to a mayor in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
• the head of a chapter in a cathedral.
• short for provost marshal.
• the chief magistrate of a French or other European town.
Origin:
late Old English profost ‘head of a chapter, prior’, reinforced in Middle English by Anglo-Norman French provost, from medieval Latin propositus, synonym of Latin praepositus ‘head, chief’ (see praepostor).
