English

Alternative forms

• portgreve, portgrave
• port-reeve

Noun

portreeve ‎(plural portreeves)

1. A borough-reeve: an office equivalent to a mayor (historical) in several major English towns or (dialect) in various minor boroughs of Wales and Southwest England.
   • 1772, Jacob's Law Dictionary:

     Instead of the portgreve [of London], Richard the first ordained two bailiffs, but presently after him King John granted them a mayor for their yearly magistrate.

2. (historical) A municipal office subordinate to a mayor, (chiefly) a bailiff.
3. (historical) A port reeve, a port warden.

Derived terms

• portreeveship

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd ed. "portreeve, n." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2006.