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What is "abbot of misrule"

The Collaborative International Dictionary
Abbot of Misrule

Misrule \Mis*rule"\, n.

  1. The act, or the result, of misruling.

  2. Disorder; confusion; tumult from insubordination.

    Enormous riot and misrule surveyed.
    --Pope.

    Abbot of Misrule, or Lord of Misrule. See under Abbot, and Lord.

Abbot of Misrule

Abbot \Ab"bot\, n. [AS. abbod, abbad, L. abbas, abbatis, Gr. 'abba^s, fr. Syriac abb[=a] father. Cf. Abba, Abb['E].]

  1. The superior or head of an abbey.

  2. One of a class of bishops whose sees were formerly abbeys.
    --Encyc. Brit.

    Abbot of the people. a title formerly given to one of the chief magistrates in Genoa.

    Abbot of Misrule (or Lord of Misrule), in medi[ae]val times, the master of revels, as at Christmas; in Scotland called the Abbot of Unreason.
    --Encyc. Brit.

Wiktionary
abbot of misrule

n. (context usually capitalized English) One elected to preside over the Christmas revelry in noble households and elsewhere in England during the 15th and 16th century; Lord of Misrule.(R:MW3 1976)