Constable definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

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Definitions (16)

American Heritage Dictionary (4)

noun A peace officer with less authority and smaller jurisdiction than a sheriff, empowered to serve writs and warrants and make arrests.
noun A medieval officer of high rank, usually serving as military commander in the absence of a monarch.
noun The governor of a royal castle.

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Century Dictionary (8)

An officer of high rank in several of the medieval monarchies. The Lord High Constable of England was the seventh officer of the crown. He had the care of the common peace in deeds of arms and matters of war, being a judge of the court of chivalry, or court of honor. To this officer, and to the earl marshal, belonged the cognizance of contracts touching deeds of arms without the realm, and combats and blazonry within the realm. His power was so great, and was often used to such improper ends, that it was abridged by the 13th Richard II., and was afterward forfeited in the person of Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, in the reign of Henry VIII. It has never been granted to any person since that time, except on a particular occasion. The office of Lord High Constable of Scotland is one of great antiquity and dignity. He had formerly the command of the king's armies while in the field, in the absence of the king. He was likewise judge of all crimes or offenses committed within four miles of the king's person, or within the same distance of the parliament or of the privy council, or of any general convention of the states of the kingdom. The office has been hereditary since 1314 in the family of Hay, earls of Erroll, and is expressly reserved in the treaty of union. The Constable of France was the first officer of the kings of France, and ultimately became commander-in-chief of the army and the highest judge in all questions of chivalry and honor. This office was suppressed in 1627. Napoleon reëstablished it during a few years, in favor of his brother Louis Bonaparte. The constable of a castle was the keeper or governor of a castle belonging to the king or a great noble. This office was often hereditary; thus, there were constables or hereditary keepers of the Tower, of Normandy, and of the castles of Windsor, Dover, etc. The constabill of gude Dundè, The vanguard led before them all. Battle of Harlaw (Child's Ballads, VII. 185). The Constables of France repeatedly shook or saved the French throne. Maine, Early Hist. of Institutions, p. 139.
An officer chosen to aid in keeping the peace, and to serve legal process in cases of minor importance. In England constables of hundreds, or high constables (now in many districts called chief constables), are appointed either at quarter-sessions or by the justices of the hundred out of sessions; petty constables, or constables of vills or tithings, are annually sworn into the office at quarter-sessions for each parish, upon presentment of the vestry, and are subordinate to the high or chief constables. In the United States the constable is an official of a town or village, elected with the other local officers, or, as a special constable, acting under a temporary appointment. The constable was formerly of much more consequence both in England and the colonies, being the chief executive officer of the parish or town. The constable was formerly the chief man in the parish, for then the parish was responsible for all robberies committed within its limits if the thieves were not apprehended. … But this state of things has long passed away; … and although constables are in some few instances still appointed, their duties are almost entirely performed by the county police. And it was provided by an Act of 1872 that for the future no parish constable should be appointed unless the County Quarter Session or the Vestry should determine it to be necessary. A. Fonblanque, Jr., How we are Governed, p. 69.
Chief constable, high constable. See above, 2.

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Police reported that, in the Westmoreland incident, a constable was at a party with friends when his 9mm Beretta fell from his waistband. — Jamaica Gleaner Online
Today, a constable is a law enforcement officer, and constables and their deputies have all the enforcement powers of other peace officers such as sheriff's deputies or police officers. — The Gazette-Enterprise: News
If homeowners don't leave, a constable is assigned to be at the property on the eviction day.
Mumbai: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is probing the role of assistant police inspector Rajesh Padvi in a graft case, in which a constable was arrested while returning the bribe — WN.com - Articles related to Drunk pilot delays AI fight to New York by 45 min
The partisans of the constable were at once removed from all offices of trust, and devoted adherents of the house of Lorraine were substituted. — The Rise of the Hugenots, Vol. 1 (of 2)

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Middle English, from Old French conestable, from Late Latin comes stabulī, officer of the stable : Latin comes, officer, companion; see ei- in Indo-European roots + Latin stabulī, genitive of stabulum, stable; see stā- in Indo-European roots.

Century Dictionary (1)

Early modern English also cunstable; from Middle English constable, cunstabul, contr. of conestable, cunestable, from Old French conestable, cunestable, connestable, French connétable = Provencal conestable = Spanish condestable = Portuguese condestable, condestavel = Italian conestabile, conestabole, contestabile, from Middle Latin conestabulus, constabulus, conestabulis, constabilis, comestabulus, comestabilis, comistabuli, a constable (in various uses), orig. comes stabuli, literally ‘count of the stable,’ master of the horse: L. comes, a follower, etc.; stabuli, genitive of stabulum, a stable: see count and stable.

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