magistrate Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a lay judge or civil authority who administers the law (especially one who conducts a court dealing with minor offenses)

WordNet

Mag"is*trate noun
Etymology
L. magistratus, fr. magister master: cf. F. magistrat. See Master.
Definitions
  1. A person clothed with power as a public civil officer; a public civil officer invested with the executive government, or some branch of it. "All Christian rulers and magistrates." Book of Com. Prayer.
    Of magistrates some also are supreme, in whom the sovereign power of the state resides; others are subordinate. Blackstone.

Webster 1913