stipendiary magistrate

9.9

A paid professional judge in Britain who deals with minor crimes and police cases

noun
/ˈstɪp.ənˌdɪə.ri ˈmædʒ.ɪ.streɪt/

Archaic

: magistrado stipendiario

Before becoming a circuit judge, he served as a stipendiary magistrate in the London courts.

Examples

Historically, only a stipendiary magistrate would handle such complex cases in metropolitan areas.
A stipendiary magistrate must be impartial.
The stipendiary magistrate presided over the trial with professionalism and efficiency.
The stipendiary magistrate ruled on the case yesterday.
The stipendiary magistrate sentenced the defendant to community service for his minor offense.
During the trial, the stipendiary magistrate listened carefully to the testimonies from both sides.
In historical UK courts, a stipendiary magistrate would handle cases ranging from theft to public disturbances.

Synonyms

magistrate

vsstipendiary magistrate

63 7.2

A local official who hears small legal cases and decides on minor crimes or disputes

refers to the paid professional appointed specifically for police and minor criminal cases

stipendiary

vsstipendiary magistrate

Archaic

9.9

A paid local judge in the UK who handled police cases

is the historical formal title for that paid professional role

Surface Forms

stipendiary magistrate singular

stipendiary magistrates plural

Morphology

stipendiary + magistrate

The noun is directly compositional: 'stipendiary' means paid/remunerated and 'magistrate' is an official who judges minor offenses, so together they denote a paid/professional magistrate. Although the term is formal/historical, its meaning follows standard adjective+noun subtype formation and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Stipendiary magistrate comes from an old word for payment and the word for judge: stipendiary means 'paid' and magistrate is a local judge. So it refers to a professional, paid judge who works in the courts.