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Glite Dictionary
🏛️ Roman governor 🧑‍⚖️ Colonial official 🦧 Extinct primate
proconsul

proconsul

4 9.9
A governor of a Roman province who had powers like a top Roman leader
  • noun
  • /ˈproʊˌkɒnsl/
translation icon : proconsul
  • The proconsul declared a new set of laws to improve trade in the province.
  • Roman proconsul

Examples

  • This is the proconsul Mencius, of Caesarea.

    The Big Fisherman (1959)

  • You dare ask the proconsul of the Roman Empire...

    Cleopatra (1963)

  • I am Mencius, Roman proconsul of Caesarea.

    The Big Fisherman (1959)

  • Pericles, proconsul of Athens.

    The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)

  • The Colosseum was built between 230 and 238 AD by Gordian, the African proconsul of the Roman emperor.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • As the proconsul of Africa, he had the power to make profound decisions that affected many lives.

  • Proconsul Lucius was responsible for maintaining order during the transition of power in the region.

Surface Forms

proconsul singular
proconsuls plural

Morphology

proconsul = consul (opaque) = pro + consul

Although historically built from 'pro-' and 'consul', the prefix here means 'acting in place of' rather than the common learner interpretation of 'pro-' as 'for' or 'in favor of', so the official Roman sense is not easily inferable.

Etymology

Proconsul comes from Latin parts pro- 'in place of' and consul 'a Roman official'. So a proconsul was someone who acted 'in place of the consul' and ruled a province with the consul's power.