Mayor

The chief governor or executive magistrate of a city. Cowell derives it from meyr, used by the Britains, and derived from miret, meaning to keep and preserve, and not from the Latin major. The old word was portgreve. The word mayor first occurs in 1189, when Rich. I. substituted a mayor for the two bailiffs of London. The word is common in Bracton.

Brac. 67.

In London, York, and Dublin, he is called lord mayor. Wharton, Lex. It is generally his duty to cause the laws of the city to be enforced, and to superintend inferior officers, such as constables, watchmen, and the like. But the power and authority which mayors possess, being given to them by local regulations, vary in different places.