the.com/chancellor
The keeper of the seal who once ran the whole show behind the throne.
means A high-ranking official whose exact powers vary by country — the head of government in some (like Germany), a top minister of finance in others (like Britain), or the ceremonial or administrative head of a university.
from From Latin cancellarius, an official who stood at the cancelli — the latticed bars or screens that fenced off the public from a Roman court. The word literally means 'doorkeeper of the lattice.' That same cancelli, by the way, gives us 'cancel,' from crossing things out with lattice-like lines. So the chancellor began as a humble usher at the barrier, then climbed — through medieval royal households where he kept the king's seal and wrote the official letters — all the way up to running governments and universities.
- Latin roots
- From cancellarius, a clerk stationed at the lattice barrier
- German power
- Germany's chancellor outranks its largely ceremonial president
- British money
- Chancellor of the Exchequer controls the UK budget
- Iron man
- Bismarck, the original Iron Chancellor, unified Germany
- University job
- Often a ceremonial figurehead nodding at graduations
angela merkel — german chancellor for 16 years (2005-2021), longest-serving in modern german history
olaf scholz — current german chancellor since 2021, leading spd-green-fdp coalition
rishi sunak — uk chancellor of the exchequer (2020-2022) before becoming prime minister