Provost (Lat. praepositus, 'set over'), in Church Law, the chief dignitary of a cathedral or collegiate church, from which use the title has also been transferred to the heads of other bodies, religious, literary, or administrative. The name is also given to the superiors of certain religious houses of lesser rank, and the relation of which to the more important houses is analogous to that of the priory to the abbey. The head of a cathedral chapter was anciently the archdeacon. At present, in the Roman Catholic Church, cathedral chapters are presided over by provosts in Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, and England, but in other parts of Germany and in France by deans. In the Church of England the Dean (q.v.) is the chief officer of a cathedral; but the title of provost survives, alongside that of dean, in the Scottish Episcopal Church. In the Protestant Church in Germany, in the north especially, where several minor churches or chapels are attached to one chief church, the minister of the latter is called provost (probst). In England the heads of Oriel, Queen's, and Worcester colleges in the university of Oxford, and the head of King's College, Cambridge, are designated provost. The head of Eton College is also so called.
In Scotland the chief municipal magistrate of a city or burgh is called provost, the term corresponding to the English word mayor. The provost presides in the civic courts along with the bailies, who are his deputies (see BOROUGH). The provosts of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Perth, and, since 1892, Dundee, are styled Lord Provost. The Lord Provost of Edinburgh is entitled to the prefix 'Right Honourable,' which may be attached not merely to the name of his office, but to his Christian name and surname. See ADDRESS (FORMS OF), PRECEDENCE. Within the city and liberties of Edinburgh the Lord Provost takes precedence next after members of the royal family.