Etymology

stadtholder

stadt·hold·er
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Today it means: The chief provincial magistrate, military commander, and, as a member of the House of Orange, highest-ranking noble in the Dutch Republic, who often served as a de facto head of state alongside the States General; the position became hereditary in 1747 Full definition →

Middle Dutch stathouder ← Medieval Latin locum tenēns
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The story

  1. Medieval Latin · derived fromlocum tenēns
  2. Middle Dutch · derived fromstathouder
  3. English todaystadtholder

Partial calque of Dutch stadthouder (superseded), stadhouder (literally “placeholder”), from Middle Dutch stathouder, itself a calque of Medieval Latin locum tenēns. Doublet of locum tenens and lieutenant.

Words from the same roots

Medieval Latinlocum tenēns all →

locum tenens

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.