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provost

UK /ˈpɹɒvəst/noun

provost is spelled P-R-O-V-O-S-T: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, provost means “A dean: the head of a cathedral chapter” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of provost is provosts.

How many letters and syllables are in provost?

Letters7: P-R-O-V-O-S-T
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.4 times per million words; the 23,835th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is provost?

Provost appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce provost?

  • UK /ˈpɹɒvəst/
  • UK /ˈpɹɒvɒst/
  • UK /pɹəʊˈvəʊ/

Provost has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-provost.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of provost

  • provosts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • provosting participle, present
  • provosted participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does provost mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A dean: the head of a cathedral chapter.

  2. 2

    The head of various other ecclesiastical bodies, even (rare, obsolete) muezzins.

  3. 3

    The minister of the chief Protestant church of a town or region in Germany, the Low Countries, and Scandinavia.

  4. 4

    UKThe head of various colleges and universities.

  5. 5

    obsoleteA ruler.

  6. 6

    A mayor: the chief magistrate of a town, particularly (Scotland) the head of a burgh or (historical) the former chiefs of various towns in France, Flanders, or (by extension) other Continental European countries.

  7. 7

    A prior: an abbot's second-in-command.

  8. 8

    USA senior deputy administrator; a vice-president of academic affairs.

verb

  1. 1

    UKobsoleteslangTo be delivered to a provost marshal for punishment.

    Around the time of the Rebellions of 1837 and the First Anglo-Afghan War, British servicemen spoke of being provosted.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Provost in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Spanishalcalde (equivalent of mayor in some Scottish cities), preboste, rector (senior academic administrator)
GermanVorsteher (senior academic administrator), Propst (highest position in a monastery below an abbot)
Portuguesepró-reitor (senior academic administrator), preboste (highest position in a monastery below an abbot)
Frenchprévôt, prévôte (highest position in a monastery below an abbot)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does provost come from?

From Middle English, from late Old English prōfost, prāfost, from Late Latin prōpositus, variant of Latin praepositus (“[one] placed in command”). In some senses, via Anglo-Norman provolt; via Anglo-Norman and Old French provost (modern French prévôt). As a Central European ecclesiastical office, via German Propst, Danish provst, etc.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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