n.
a senior state or legal official.
▸
(Chancellor)
the head of the government in some European countries, e.g. Germany.
▸chiefly Brit. the honorary head of a university.
▸US the presiding judge of a chancery court.
▸(in the UK) an officer of an order of knighthood who seals commissions.
Derivative
Etymology
OE from OFr. cancelier, from late L. cancellarius ‘porter, secretary’ (orig. a court official stationed at the grating separating public from judges), from cancelli ‘crossbars’.