alderman
/ˈɔːldəmən
/noun (plural aldermen)
1chiefly historical A co-opted member of an English county or borough council, next in status to the Mayor.A self-made man, he started life in a small cottage in Skipton before going on to serve as a councillor, alderman and then Lord Mayor of Bradford....
- He became involved in politics in the mid-1950s, initially as an alderman on the London County Council.
- In 1911 he was elected a Birmingham Councillor, becoming an alderman in 1914 and, in 1915, Lord Mayor of Birmingham.
1.1North American & Australian An elected member of a city council.He was elected an alderman of Limerick City Council in the 1999 local elections when he topped the poll with over 900 votes in Ward 3....
- It's a mixed answer and if aldermen have been elected, then at times they have to make decisions.
- Hobart City aldermen have pushed for an increase in allowances for councillors for some time.
Derivatives
aldermanic
- There were no sharp questions for council officers or the Mayor and Deputy Mayor when aldermanic candidates were briefed on topical issues last week.
- Brookins apologized for his lapse of aldermanic etiquette, but his contrition was not enough to win support for a 50-acre shopping center that also would include an Office Depot and a Lowe's home-improvement store.
- In fact, in three of the five elections named (the 2004 federal election and both the mayoral and aldermanic races in the 2001 civic election), I voted for the candidate who finished last.
aldermanship
/ noun ...- Cripling received no support whatever from his brethren, who in the subsequent March agreed not only to deprive him of his aldermanship but also to disfranchise him.
- Four councillors of the Overstrand Municipality were awarded aldermanship at a special council meeting last night in terms of the criteria that was adopted at the end of June.
- In the meantime, Gonzalez is hoping to break down the mystique of the Ward One aldermanship by organizing focus groups of students with similar concerns.
Origin
Old English aldormann (originally in the general sense 'a man of high rank'), from aldor, ealdor 'chief, patriarch' (from ald 'old') + man. Later the sense 'warden of a guild' arose; then, as the guilds became identified with the ruling municipal body, 'local magistrate, municipal officer'.