Basic Details
Word: Magistrate
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: An official who acts as a judge in a lower court that deals with less serious cases.
Synonyms: judge, justice
Word origin: Comes from Latin magistratus, from magister, master.
How to Spell Magistrate
Syllables: ma - gis - trate
Tricky part: The g is soft, like j, but is spelt g. The end is trate, like rate, not trait or trat.
Watch out for: majistrate, magestrate, magistrait
Memory tip: Begin with magis, from magister, the Latin word for master, then add trate, which ends exactly like rate.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The magistrate fined the driver for jumping the red light.
Example 2: The case was first heard in the court of a magistrate.
Example 3: My aunt hopes to become a magistrate after her law exams.
Fun Fact
In India each district has a District Magistrate, usually an IAS officer, who heads the district's administration and in many states is also called the Collector.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. magistrate 2. advocatte 3. jurisdition 4. testimoney
a) an official who judges less serious cases in a local court
b) the official power to make legal decisions
c) a lawyer who speaks for someone in court
d) a formal statement made by a witness in court
Show answer
a) an official who judges less serious cases in a local court. Advocate has one t, jurisdiction has a c before tion and testimony has no e before y, which leaves magistrate.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letters to form a word:
ma_istr_te
a) g, a
b) g, e
c) j, a
d) j, i
Show answer
a) g, a. The soft g is still written g, and the last part is trate.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
The shopkeeper was fined by the tsragitema for selling biscuits past their expiry date.
a) migrant
b) magistrate
c) minister
d) magnate
Show answer
b) magistrate. Ten letters with an s and two t's make magistrate; magnate and migrant are too short and minister has no a.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A magistrate mainly ____.
a) builds roads and bridges
b) arrests people on the street
c) teaches law at college
d) judges less serious cases
Show answer
d) judges less serious cases
2. Which word is closest in meaning to magistrate?
a) sailor
b) banker
c) judge
d) editor
Show answer
c) judge
