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rector

1. A ruler or governor. God is the supreme rector of the world. (Sir M. Hale)

2. A clergyman in charge of a parish.

3. The head master of a public school.

4. The chief elective officer of some universities, as in France and Scotland; sometimes, the head of a college; as, the Rector of Exeter College, or of Lincoln College, at Oxford.

5. The superior officer or chief of a convent or religious house; and among the jesuits the superior of a house that is a seminary or college.

Origin: L, fr. Regere, rectum, to lead straight, to rule: cf. F. Recteur. See Regiment, Right.