selectman

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a member of an elected board that serves as the chief administrative authority of a New England town

   The selectman presented the road budget at the annual town meeting.

Formed in New England from select, in the sense 'chosen or elected,' + man. The office is attested from the seventeenth century. Its irregular plural is selectmen; many municipalities now use the gender-neutral names select board or select board member.

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