Deputy, n. (pl. -ies)
1 a person appointed or delegated to act for another or others (also attrib. : deputy manager).
2 Polit. a parliamentary representative in certain countries, e.g. France.
3 a coalmine official responsible for safety.

Idiom

by deputy by proxy. Chamber of Deputies the lower legislative assembly in some parliaments. deputy lieutenant Brit. the deputy of the Lord Lieutenant of a county.

Derivative

deputyship n.

Etymology

ME var. of DEPUTE n.

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DEVIL DICTIONARY

Deputy

n. A male relative of an office-holder, or of his bondsman. The deputy is commonly a beautiful young man, with a red necktie and an intricate system of cobwebs extending from his nose to his desk. When accidentally struck by the janitor's broom, he gives off a cloud of dust.

"Chief Deputy," the Master cried,
"To-day the books are to be tried
By experts and accountants who
Have been commissioned to go through
Our office here, to see if we
Have stolen injudiciously.
Please have the proper entries made,
The proper balances displayed,
Conforming to the whole amount
Of cash on hand -- which they will count.
I've long admired your punctual way --
Here at the break and close of day,
Confronting in your chair the crowd
Of business men, whose voices loud
And gestures violent you quell
By some mysterious, calm spell --
Some magic lurking in your look
That brings the noisiest to book
And spreads a holy and profound
Tranquillity o'er all around.
So orderly all's done that they
Who came to draw remain to pay.
But now the time demands, at last,
That you employ your genius vast
In energies more active. Rise
And shake the lightnings from your eyes;
Inspire your underlings, and fling
Your spirit into everything!"
The Master's hand here dealt a whack
Upon the Deputy's bent back,
When straightway to the floor there fell
A shrunken globe, a rattling shell
A blackened, withered, eyeless head!
The man had been a twelvemonth dead.
Jamrach Holobom

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THESAURUS

Deputy

G-man, MP, acolyte, adjutant, administrator, advocate, agent, aid, aide, aide-de-camp, aider, alternate, alternative, ambassador, amicus curiae, analogy, appointee, assignee, assistant, attendant, attorney, attorney-at-law, auxiliary, backup, bailiff, barrister, barrister-at-law, beadle, beagle, best man, bound bailiff, candidate, captain, catchpole, change, changeling, chief of police, coadjutant, coadjutor, coadjutress, coadjutrix, commissioner, comparison, conductor, connection, constable, copy, counsel, counselor, counselor-at-law, counterfeit, delegate, deputy sheriff, detective, directeur, director, double, dummy, emissary, envoy, equal, equivalent, ersatz, exchange, executive officer, factor, fake, fed, federal, fill-in, flic, friend at court, front, front man, gendarme, ghost, ghostwriter, go-between, government man, governor, help, helper, helpmate, helpmeet, imitation, impresario, inspector, intendant, interagent, interceder, intercessor, intermediary, intermediate, intermediate agent, intermediator, intermedium, internuncio, intervener, interventionist, interventor, lawyer, legal adviser, legal counselor, legal expert, legal practitioner, legalist, legate, licensee, lictor, lieutenant, locum tenens, mace-bearer, makeshift, manager, marshal, mediator, medium, metaphor, metonymy, middleman, minister, mounted policeman, mouthpiece, narc, negotiant, negotiator, negotiatress, negotiatrix, next best thing, nominee, officer, ombudsman, operative, paranymph, paraprofessional, patrolman, peace officer, personnel, phony, pinch hitter, pleader, police captain, police commissioner, police constable, police inspector, police matron, police officer, police sergeant, policeman, policewoman, portreeve, proctor, procurator, producer, proxy, rector, reeve, relief, replacement, representative, reserve, reserves, responsible person, ringer, roundsman, sea lawyer, second, second string, secondary, selectee, self-styled lawyer, sergeant, sergeant at arms, servant, sheriff, sideman, sign, solicitor, spares, spokesman, spokesperson, spokeswoman, stand-in, sub, substituent, substitute, substitution, succedaneum, supercargo, superintendent, superseder, supplanter, supporting actor, supporting instrumentalist, surrogate, symbol, synecdoche, third string, tipstaff, tipstaves, token, trooper, understudy, utility player, vicar, vice-president, vice-regent

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ROGET THESAURUS

Deputy

Substitute

N substitute, deputy, badli.

Authority

N authority, influence, patronage, power, preponderance, credit, prestige, prerogative, jurisdiction, right, direction, government, divine right, dynastic rights, authoritativeness, absoluteness, absolutism, despotism, jus nocendi, jus divinum, mastery, mastership, masterdom, dictation, control, hold, grasp, grip, gripe, reach, iron sway, fangs, clutches, talons, rod of empire, commission, deputy, permission, at the head, dominant, paramount, supreme, predominant, preponderant, in the ascendant, influential, arbitrary, compulsory, stringent, at one's command, in one's power, in one's grasp, under control, in the name of, by the authority of, de par le Roi, in virtue of, under the auspices of, in the hands of, at one's pleasure, by a dash if the pen, by a stroke of the pen, ex mero motu, ex cathedra, from the chair, the gray mare the better horse, every inch a king.

Commission

N commission, delegation, consignment, assignment, procuration, deputation, legation, mission, embassy, agency, agentship, power of attorney, clerkship, surrogacy, errand, charge, brevet, diploma, exequatur, permit, appointment, nomination, designation, return, charter, ordination, installation, inauguration, investiture, swearing-in, accession, coronation, enthronement, vicegerency, regency, regentship, viceroy, consignee, deputy, agent, delegate, consignee, commissioned, per procurationem.

Deputy

N deputy, substitute, vice, proxy, locum tenens, badli, delegate, representative, next friend, surrogate, secondary, regent, viceregent, vizier, minister, vicar, premier, chancellor, prefect, provost, warden, lieutenant, archon, consul, proconsul, viceroy, commissioner, Tsung-li Yamen, Wai Wu Pu, plenipotentiary, alter ego, team, eight, eleven, champion, acting, vice, vice regal, accredited to, in behalf of.

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