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Magistrate - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Magistrate : (noun)
1: a public official authorized to decide questions bought
before a court of justice [syn: judge, justice, jurist]
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Magistrate : \Mag"is*trate\, n. [L. magistratus, fr. magister
master: cf. F. magistrat. See Master.]
A person clothed with power as a public civil officer; a
public civil officer invested with the executive government,
or some branch of it. ``All Christian rulers and
magistrates.'' --Book of Com. Prayer.
Of magistrates some also are supreme, in whom the
sovereign power of the state resides; others are
subordinate. --Blackstone.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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MAGISTRATE, mun. law. A public civil officer, invested with some part of the
legislative, executive, or judicial power given by the constitution. In a
narrower sense this term includes only inferior judicial officers, as
justices of the peace.
2. The president of the United States is the chiefMagistrate : of this
nation; the governors are the chief magistrates of their respective states.
3. It is the duty of all magistrates to exercise the power, vested in
them for the good of the people, according to law, and with zeal and
fidelity. A neglect on the part of a magistrate to exercise the functions of
his office, when required by law, is a misdemeanor. Vide 15 Vin. Ab. 144;
Ayl. Pand. tit. 22; Dig. 30, 16, 57; Merl. Rep. h.t.; 13 Pick. R. 523.
Based on Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [Bouvier_Law_Dictionary]:
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Magistrate : a public civil officer invested with authority. The Hebrew
shophetim, or judges, were magistrates having authority in the
land (Deut. 1:16, 17). In Judg. 18:7 the word "magistrate"
(A.V.) is rendered in the Revised Version "possessing
authority", i.e., having power to do them harm by invasion. In
the time of Ezra (9:2) and Nehemiah (2:16; 4:14; 13:11) the
Jewish magistrates were called _seganim_, properly meaning
"nobles." In the New Testament the Greek word _archon_, rendered
"magistrate" (Luke 12:58; Titus 3:1), means one first in power,
and hence a prince, as in Matt. 20:25, 1 Cor. 2:6, 8. This term
is used of the Messiah, "Prince of the kings of the earth" (Rev.
1:5). In Acts 16:20, 22, 35, 36, 38, the Greek term _strategos_,
rendered "magistrate," properly signifies the leader of an army,
a general, one having military authority. The _strategoi_ were
the duumviri, the two praetors appointed to preside over the
administration of justice in the colonies of the Romans. They
were attended by the sergeants (properly lictors or "rod
bearers").
Based on Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [Bouvier_Law_Dictionary]:
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