different between chancellor vs headmaster

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman or Middle English chaunceler, chanceler, canceler (“chief administrative or executive officer of a ruler; chancellor, secretary; private secretary, scribe; Lord Chancellor of England; officer of the ruler's exchequer; a high administrative or executive officer (for example, a deputy or representative of a bishop; the head of a university)”), from Old French cancelier, chancelier (“chancellor”), from Late Latin cancell?rius (“secretary; doorkeeper, porter; usher of a court of law stationed at the bars separating the public from the judges”), from Latin cancell? (plural of cancellus (“grate; bars, barrier; railings”), diminutive of cancer (“grid; barrier”), from Proto-Italic *karkros (“enclosure”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to bend, turn”)) + -?rius (suffix forming nouns denoting an agent of use).

The word was present as Late Old English canceler, cancheler, from Norman cancheler, but was displaced in the 13th century by the Old French and Anglo-Norman forms mentioned above.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?t???ns?l?/, /?t???nsl?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?t?æns?l?/, /-l?/, /?t?ænsl?/
• Hyphenation: chan?cel?lor

Noun

chancellor (plural chancellors)

1. A senior secretary or official with administrative or legal duties, sometimes in charge of some area of government such as finance or justice.
2. The head of the government in some German-speaking countries.

   Synonym: (historical) Reichskanzler
3. (Christianity) A senior record keeper of a cathedral; a senior legal officer for a bishop or diocese in charge of hearing cases involving ecclesiastical law.
4. (education) The head of a university, sometimes purely ceremonial.
5. (Britain, government) Short for Chancellor of the Exchequer.
6. (Scotland, law) The foreman of a jury.
7. (US, law) The chief judge of a court of chancery (that is, one exercising equity jurisdiction).

Alternative forms

• chanceler, chanceller, chancellour, chancelor, chancelour, chaunceler, chaunceller, chauncellor, chauncellour, chauncelor, chauncelour (all obsolete)

Coordinate terms

• (head of a university): master, mistress, president, principal, provost, rector
• (head of government in some German-speaking countries): premier, prime minister

Derived terms

• Chancellor
• chancelloress
• Chancellor of the Exchequer
• chancellorship
• Lord Chancellor

Related terms

• cancellarial, cancellarian
• chancel
• chancellery, chancellory
• chancery

Translations

Notes

References

Further reading

• chancellor on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• chancellor in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• chancellor in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• chancellor at OneLook Dictionary Search
• “chancellor” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

English

Etymology

head +? master.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?h?d?mæst?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?h?d?m??st?/
• Rhymes: -æst?(?), -??st?(?)
• Hyphenation: head?mas?ter

Noun

headmaster (plural headmasters, feminine headmistress)

1. (chiefly Britain) A male school principal.

Usage notes

The term is gender-specific, and refers to a male in the position. A female in the same role would be called a headmistress. In the United States, the shortened version of 'master' was used in some universities to refer to the faculty leader of a residential space regardless of gender.

Synonyms

• headteacher (UK, gender-neutral)
• principal (US, gender-neutral)

Translations

Anagrams

• headstream