society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > governor of province, dependency, or colony > governors by country > [noun] > in American colonies (4)
a president with authority over all the subordinate presidents of a system.
The chief magistrate of certain British colonies in North America, and of their successor states. Now historical.
In pre-Revolutionary America: the senior proprietor or lord proprietary of a palatinate, (frequently) spec. of the palatinate of Carolina. Now histo…