Both Uses of
magistrate
in
Gulliver's Travels
- And which is the convenient end, seems, in my humble opinion to be left to every man's conscience, or at least in the power of the chief magistrate to determine.†
Chpt 1 *
- The magistrates of the town, hearing of my letter, received me as a public minister.†
Chpt 3
Definition:
-
(magistrate) a judge or judicial officialThe exact meaning of magistrate varies widely depending upon the context. For example:
- in the U.S. federal court: assists district court judges by handling minor offenses or administrative tasks such as preliminary hearings (often referred to as a magistrate judge rather than just a magistrate)
- in some U.S. states: a judge in the state court
- in France, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and other civil law countries: a sitting magistrate is a judge and a standing magistrate is a prosecutor
- in England: may be a volunteer without formal legal training who performs a judicial role with regard to minor matters
- in ancient Rome: a powerful officer with both judicial and executive power