1. a senior state or legal official: "the Lord chancellor and the judges will consider the application"
▪ short for Chancellor of the Exchequer
▪ the head of the government in some European countries, such as Germany.
▪ the honorary head of a university.
▪ the president or chief administrative officer of a university.
▪ a bishop's law officer.
▪ the presiding judge of a chancery court.
▪ (in the UK) an officer of an order of knighthood who seals commissions.
Word Originlate Old English from Old French cancelier, from late Latin cancellarius ‘porter, secretary’ (originally a court official stationed at the grating separating public from judges), from cancelli ‘crossbars’.
