The plural of chancellorship; the offices or positions held by chancellors, who are high-ranking government officials or leaders of universities.
From Middle English chancellerie, derived from Old French chancelier, ultimately from Latin cancellarius (official keeper of the latticed screen in a Roman courtroom). The -ship suffix indicates an office or position.
The latticed screen (cancelli) that separated Roman officials from common people gave us the word chancellor—literally the person who stood behind the barrier! This shows how physical architecture shaped our entire governmental vocabulary.
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