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Glite Dictionary
Master of the Rolls

Master of the Rolls

9.5
The senior judge who leads the civil Court of Appeal in England and Wales
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : Maestro de los Registros
  • Indeed, Jekyll's important role in the publication was confirmed by one of Wilson's diary entries: "Waited upon the Master of the Rolls, Jekyll."

Examples

  • The Master of the Rolls presides over significant civil cases in the Court of Appeal.

  • So I consulted the attorney general, the lord chief justice... the master of the rolls, the judge ordinary and the lord chancellor.

    The Mikado (1939)

  • Regency: Any three from HM's spouse, the Lord Chancellor, the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Lord Chief Justice, and the Master of the Rolls can cause the DQNship to temporarily be held by the next in line.

    Blog text (31)

  • As the Master of the Rolls, he plays a crucial role in shaping civil law interpretations in England.

  • The responsibilities of the Master of the Rolls include overseeing the civil division of the Court of Appeal.

Surface Forms

Master of the Rolls singular
Masters of the Rolls plural

Morphology

master + of + the + roll

This is an institutional, historical job title whose current meaning ('senior judge of the civil division') cannot be derived from the literal constituents: a B1 learner knowing 'master' and 'roll(s)' would not predict a judicial office. The plural 'rolls' is archaic/administrative and the expression is conventionalized in UK law, so its sense is not transparently compositional.

Etymology

Master of the Rolls comes from a time when a master was the person who kept long paper rolls of court records, like big scrolls of important papers. That's why today the Master of the Rolls is the 'senior judge' in charge of civil cases.