Pretor

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Pretor \Pre"tor\, n. [L. praetor, for praeitor, fr. praeire to
     go before; prae before + ire to go. See {Issue}.]
     1. (Rom. Antiq.) A civil officer or magistrate among the
        ancient Romans.
        [1913 Webster]
  


     Note: Originally the pretor was a kind of third consul; but
           at an early period two pretors were appointed, the
           first of whom (praetor urbanus) was a kind of mayor or
           city judge; the other (praetor peregrinus) was a judge
           of cases in which one or both of the parties were
           foreigners. Still later, the number of pretors, or
           judges, was further increased.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Hence, a mayor or magistrate. [R.] --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  pretor
       n : an annually elected magistrate of the ancient Roman Republic
           [syn: {praetor}]