alderman n : a member of a municipal legislative body (as a city council); "aldermen usually represent city wards"

Alderman \Al"der*man\ ([add]l"d[~e]r*man), n.; pl. Aldermen. [AS. aldormon, ealdorman; ealdor an elder + man. See Elder, n.]
1. A senior or superior; a person of rank or dignity. [Obs.] Note: The title was applied, among the Anglo-Saxons, to princes, dukes, earls, senators, and presiding magistrates; also to archbishops and bishops, implying superior wisdom or authority. Thus Ethelstan, duke of the East-Anglians, was called Alderman of all England; and there were aldermen of cities, counties, and castles, who had jurisdiction within their respective districts.
2. One of a board or body of municipal officers next in order to the mayor and having a legislative function. They may, in some cases, individually exercise some magisterial and administrative functions.

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An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, or denote a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote.

The title is derived from the Old English title of ealdorman, literally meaning "elder man", and was used by the chief nobles presiding over shires.

Many local government bodies used the term "alderman" in Australia. As in the way local councils have been modernised in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the term alderman has been discontinued in a number of places. For example, in the State of Queensland before 1994, rural "shires" elected "councillors" and a "chairman", while "cities" elected a "mayor" and "aldermen". Since 1994, all local and regional government areas in Queensland elect a "mayor" and "councillors." (The Brisbane City Council has always had a "Lord Mayor"). An example of the use of the term alderman was in the City of Adelaide.

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