starosta

Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: старост/а, Latin: capitaneus, ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands.

The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadership position in a range of civic and social contexts throughout Central and Eastern Europe. In reference to a municipality, a starosta was historically a senior royal administrative official, equivalent to a county sheriff or seneschal, and analogous to a gubernator. In Poland, a starosta administered a crown land district called starostwo.