proconsul

¹

[ proh-kon-suhl ]

noun

1. Roman History. an official, usually a former consul, who acted as governor or military commander of a province, and who had powers similar to those of a consul.
2. any appointed administrator over a dependency or an occupied area.

Proconsul

²

[ proh-kon-suhl ]

noun

1. an African subgenus of Dryopithecus that lived 17–20 million years ago and is possibly ancestral to modern hominoids.

proconsul

/ prəʊˈkɒnsjʊlə; prəʊˈkɒnsəl /

noun

1. an administrator or governor of a colony, occupied territory, or other dependency
2. (in ancient Rome) the governor of a senatorial province

Derived Forms

• proconsular, adjective
• proˈconsulate, noun

Other Words From

• pro·consu·lar adjective
• pro·consu·lar·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of proconsul¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin prōconsul; pro- ¹, consul

Origin of proconsul²

< New Latin (1933), equivalent to pro- pro- ¹ + Consul, allegedly the name of a chimpanzee in a London zoo (with a pun on Latin prōconsul proconsul ); the genus was thought to be ancestral to the chimpanzee

Word History and Origins

Origin of proconsul¹

C14: from Latin, from prō consule (someone acting) for the consul. See pro- ², consul

Example Sentences

Mr. Bushnell remained in Panama until his retirement in 1992, retaining a role that a Los Angeles Times reporter described as “the closest thing the United States has to a proconsul.”

From Washington Post

To some locals, it was a caricature of a colonial proconsul inspecting his troops.

From Seattle Times

Conference tributes came also from Yale alumnus L. Paul Bremer III, the former American proconsul of Iraq's Green Zone in 2003; from former U.S.

From Salon

But she has also fallen in love with the proconsul Pollione and is about to run off with him to Rome when she learns that he has secretly fathered two children by Norma.

From Washington Times

Olympia and her brother Nicanor, a Roman proconsul, are dealing with this pesky sectarian cult following some Jewish prophet murdered in Jerusalem.

From Washington Post