landdrost

noun

land·​drost

ˈlan(d)ˌdrȯst

variants or less commonly landtrost

-ˌtr-

plural -s

: a Boer magistrate in a rural district of South Africa prior to the establishment of British administration

the special court … of three landdrosts with a jury

—Manfred Nathan

Word History

Etymology

Afrikaans landdros (formerly spelled landdrost), from land land, country (from Middle Dutch) + drost sheriff; akin to Old High German lant land

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