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portreeve

Today it means: A borough-reeve: an office equivalent to a mayor (historical) in several major English towns or (dialect) in various minor boroughs of Wales and Southwest England. Full definition →

Middle English portereve ← Old English portġerēfa

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Old English · inherited fromportġerēfa
Middle English · inherited fromportereve
English todayportreeve

From Middle English portereve, portereve, from Old English portġerēfa, from port (“a walled market town”) + ġerēfa (“reeve”). By surface analysis, port + reeve.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.