custos rotulorum

noun

The main justice of the peace in a given county of England, Wales or Ireland.

OriginMedieval Latin custos rotulorum ← Latin custōs →
First used 15th c.
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Meanings

nouncustos rotulorum (plural custodes rotulorum)

plural custodes rotulorum

  1. historicalThe main justice of the peace in a given county of England, Wales or Ireland.First known use 15th c.

    Mr Casaubon made a dignified though somewhat sad audience; […] mindful that this desultoriness was associated with the institutions of the country, and that the man who took him on this severe mental scamper was not only an amiable host, but a landholder and custos rotulorum.

    1871, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter III, in Middlemarch […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book I, pages 35–36
  2. The chief magistrate and representative of the Governor-General in a Jamaican parish.First known use 17th c.

Origin

  1. Latincustōs“custos, keeper”
  2. Medieval Latincustos rotulorum
  3. Englishcustos rotulorum

From Medieval Latin custos rotulorum, from Latin custōs (“custos, keeper”) + genitive plural of rotulus (“roll”).

More words from Medieval Latin, Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

custos rotulorum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/custos%20rotulorum

MLA

“custos rotulorum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/custos%20rotulorum. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “custos rotulorum,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/custos%20rotulorum.

Source: custos rotulorum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.