核心畫面

One way to hold it: a very senior official who holds a title rather than a job description — the person at the top of a state, a treasury, or a university, whose exact power depends entirely on which country you are in.

一個「頭銜很大、但實際管什麼要看地方」的高階職位。chancellor 不像 teacher 或 doctor 那樣更多收起一個「頭銜很大、但實際管什麼要看地方」的高階職位。chancellor 不像 teacher 或 doctor 那樣說出一件事,它說的是「在這個體制裡,站在最上面(或很上面)的那個人」——在德國是總理,在英國是掌管國庫的大臣,在大學是校長或名譽校長。共通的不是工作內容,而是那個位置:正式、頂端、由制度授予。學這個字的訣竅是先接受它沒有單一中文對應,然後把「哪個國家、哪個機構」當成解讀的鑰匙。

From the word’s history

From Latin cancellarius, originally the doorkeeper who stood at the cancelli (the lattice or bar separating the court from the public); the man at the barrier gradually became the man in charge.

這個字的來歷很值得記:拉丁文 cancelli 是法庭裡那道把官員和民眾隔開的格柵欄杆,站在欄杆旁邊的門房叫 cancellarius。守門的人天天經手要送進去的文件和要見官的人,久而久之從「守門的」變成「掌文書的」,再變成「掌權的」——一路爬到今天的總理和校長。所以這個字骨子裡帶著「守在關口、東西要經過他」的味道,這也解釋了為什麼它常跟印信、財政、正式文件連在一起。

Wiktionary/OED line given in the payload etymology tree (Latin cancer/cancelli > cancellarius), the doorkeeper at the lattice of a court.

Two branches

國家層級:政府首腦

這一族是「頂端的那個位置」用在整個國家上——歐陸幾個國家把政府最高負責人叫這個名字。

chancellor (head of government) · noun · C2

The leader of the government in some countries, such as Germany, or the main government minister in some others.

總理

大學層級:校長與名譽校長

中世紀的大學本來就是教會與王室體制的一部分,「頂端那個位置」的名稱因此原封不動被沿用進學術機構。

chancellor (ceremonial, UK university) · noun · C2

The person who officially represents a British university on special occasions, but who does not usually run it from day to day.

名譽校長

原始詞典資料15 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,原文照列,我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的;有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

Chancellornoun

  • 1

    An honorific for the head of state in various German-speaking states.

    • The other option – typified by the unapologetically noncharismatic leaders of Britain and Germany, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Friedrich Merz – has been to persuade the electorate they’ll work hard to deliver sustainable policy results on issues like immigration, and above all, economic growth, in a way that tub-thumping populists simply cannot.

Chancellorname

  • 1

    A surname.

  • 2

    A hamlet in Wheatland County, Alberta, Canada, named after the Chancellor of Germany by settlers.

  • 3

    A place in the United States:

  • 4

    A place in the United States:

  • 5

    A place in the United States:

chancellornoun/ˈtʃɑːnsələ/

  • 1

    A senior secretary or official with administrative or legal duties, sometimes in charge of some area of government such as finance or justice.

    • Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
    • Lord Chancellor
  • 2

    The head of the government in some German-speaking countries.

    • the Austrian Chancellor
    • In the Reichstag, the Imperial Chancellor, Dr. [Theobald] von Bethmann-Hollweg, replied to questions upon the Zabern incident in a tone of protest and anger which has not been heard since the Morocco debate. Half the House itself was seething with indignation against the Government.
  • 3

    ChristianityA senior record keeper of a cathedral; a senior legal officer for a bishop or diocese in charge of hearing cases involving ecclesiastical law.

    • The Chancellor, as he is commonly called, who presides in the Diocesan Court, is appointed by the Bishop to the two ancient offices of Vicar General and Official Principal. When the Bishop, as was frequently the case, was absent from the Diocese, or for any other reason was unable to act in person, the Vicar General, as the name denotes, was his usual representative, while the exercise of his judicial authority he delegated to the Official Principal. For a long period of time the two offices have been always held together, and the Chancellor sometimes acts in one capacity and sometimes in the other.
  • 4

    educationThe head of a university, sometimes purely ceremonial.

    • When the extremely arduous duties of the Prime Minister’s [Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury’s] political life are considered, it will be understood that, if the Chancellorship of the University entailed any serious amount of work, it would have been impossible for him to continue in the office. As a matter of fact, this is not the case. There are Chancellor’s Prizes which he gives, but he does not present them in person. There is a Chancellor’s Court to which University men may be summoned, but it is invariably presided over by the Vice-Chancellor, who is, in fact, the one really executive authority. Sometimes the Chancellor heads deputations to Court, and sometimes (but rarely) he comes to [the University of] Oxford to preside over some special function, when his weighty words are greatly valued.
  • 5

    The foreman of a jury.

    • "Have you agreed on your chancellor, gentlemen?" was the first question of the Judge. The foreman, called in Scotland the chancellor of the jury, usually the man of best rank and estimation among the assizers, stepped forward, and, with a low reverence, delivered to the Court a sealed paper, containing the verdict, […]
    • The verdict must be returned to the Court by the chancellor of the jury, in presence of the accused, and of the whole jury; and, being engrossed in the record, and read aloud, it is then sealed up, in terms of the regulations 1672, No. 9, and deposited with the clerk of Court, never to be opened again but by order of the judges. The verdict, when in writing, is authenticated by the subscriptions of the chancellor and clerk of the jury, and accompanied with a list of the names of the jurors, and a state of the vote of each individual, "whether condemning or assoilzieing;" Regulations 1672, No. 9.
  • 6

    lawThe chief judge of a court of chancery (that is, one exercising equity jurisdiction).

    • The state [of Virginia, USA] is divided into 9 chancery districts, in each of which a superiour court of chancery is held. There are 4 chancellors.
    • In some of the states, as New York, Virginia, and South Carolina, the equity court is a distinct tribunal, having its appropriate judge, or chancellor, and officers.
  • 7

    board-gameschessgamesA fairy chess piece which combines the moves of the rook and the knight.

這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形:

資料來源:英文維基詞典 English WiktionaryCC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。