noun

• (historical) Either of the two heads of government and state of the Roman Republic or the equivalent nominal post under the Roman and Byzantine Empires.
• (historical) Any of the three heads of government and state of France between 1799 and 1804.
• (obsolete) A count or earl.
• (obsolete or historical) A councillor
• (historical) A member of early modern city councils in southern France and Catalonia.
• (historical) An officer of the trading and merchant companies of early modern England.
• (historical) An official in various early modern port and trading towns, elected by resident foreign merchants to settle disputes among themselves and to represent them to the local authorities.
• (by extension) An official residing in major foreign towns to represent and protect the interests of the merchants and citizens of their country.
• (obsolete) A high government official, generally either a coruler himself or a counsellor directly under the ruler.