Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “magistrate” come from?

Magistrate derives from Latin magistratus, an office-holder noun formed from magister, meaning master or teacher, itself from magis, the comparative of magnus meaning great, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European meǵh₂- and maǵ-.

magistrate (English): A judicial officer with limited authority to...

Definitions

  1. A judicial officer with limited authority to...

Ancestry of “magistrate”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinmagistratusa magistrate, official; a magisterial office,...
2Latinmagisterteacher; master; a title of the Middle Ages,...
3Proto-Italicmagisteros—
4Proto-Indo-Europeanméǵh₂isteros—
5Proto-Indo-Europeanméǵh₂sbig, great

Words derived from “magistrate”

  • magistratical
  • magistrateship
  • unmagistrate
  • magistratic
  • magistratically
Every word from Proto-Indo-European méǵh₂s →