a kind of judge, or rather an arbitrator, which the Greek Christians, under the dominion of the Turks, elect in the several cities, to terminate the differences that arise among them, and avoid carrying them before the Turkish magistrates. See ARBITRATOR.

Anciently the Greeks used the term ἐπιτρόπος, in the same sense as the Latins did procurator, viz. for a commissioner or intendant. Thus the commissioners of provisions in the Persian army are called by Herodotus and Xenophon ἐπιτρόποι. In the New Testament, ἐπιτρόπος denotes the steward of a household, rendered in the vulgate procurator.