magistrate, magestrat, majestrat

[Fr. magistrat, from Lat. magi stratus =(1) a mag is tracy, (2) a magistrate, from magister a master; Ital. magi str a to; Sp. magistrado.] A public civil officer, invested with legislative, executive, or judicial authority. In a narrower sense this term includes only inferior judicial officers, as justices of the peace. The President is the chief magistrate of the United States; the governors are the chief magistrates of their respective states. [JUSTICE.] "Ile who was the magistrate , after long abusing his powers, has at last abdicated them."-Macaulay: Hist. Eng ., ch. x.