noun

• The chief executive of the municipal government of a city, borough, etc., formerly (historical) usually appointed as a caretaker by European royal courts but now usually appointed or elected locally.
• (historical) Synonym of mair, various former officials in the Kingdom of Scotland.
• (Ireland, rare, obsolete) A member of a city council.
• (historical, obsolete) A high justice, an important judge.
• (chiefly US) A largely ceremonial position in some municipal governments that presides over the city council while a contracted city manager holds actual executive power.
• (figurative, humorous) A local VIP, a muckamuck or big shot reckoned to lead some local group.
• A surname from Anglo-Norman.
• (historical) Short for mayor of the palace, the royal stewards of the Frankish Empire. [(historical) In the Merovingian kingdoms, the king’s steward and, by the 7th century, de facto regent.]