Chancellor

chan′sel-or, n. ( Shak. ) secretary: the president of a court of chancery or other court: the official who keeps the registers of an order of knighthood: the titular head of a university: ( Scot. ) the foreman of a jury.— ns. Chan′cell or ship ; Chan′cellory .— Chancellor of a cathedral , an officer who formerly had charge of the chapter library, custody of the common seal, superintendence of the choir practices, and headship of the cathedral schools; Chancellor of a diocese , an ecclesiastical judge uniting the functions of vicar-general and official principal, appointed to a ist the bishop in questions of ecclesiastical law, and hold his courts for him; Chancellor of the Exchequer , the chief minister of finance in the British government; Lord Chancellor , Lord High Chancellor , the presiding judge of the Court of Chancery, the keeper of the great seal, and the first lay person of the state after the blood-royal. [Fr. chance lier —Low L. can cellar i us , orig. an officer that had charge of records, and stood near the cancelli (L.), the cro bars that surrounded the judgment-seat.]