proconsul Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an official in a modern colony who has considerable administrative power
  2. noun a provincial governor of consular rank in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire
  3. noun an anthropoid ape of the genus Proconsul

WordNet

Pro*con"sul noun
Etymology
L., fr. pro for + consul consul.
Definitions
  1. (Rom. Antiq.) An officer who discharged the duties of a consul without being himself consul; a governor of, or a military commander in, a province. He was usually one who had previously been consul.

Webster 1913