Editing Mayor (section)

{{short description|Head of municipal government such as a town or city}}
{{other uses}}
{{Distinguish|Major (disambiguation){{!}}Major}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Executive}}
In many countries, a '''mayor''' is the highest-ranking [[official]] in a [[Municipal corporation|municipal government]] such as that of a [[city]] or a [[town]]. Worldwide, there is a wide [[variance]] in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as the means by which a mayor is elected or otherwise mandated. Depending on the system chosen, a mayor may be the chief executive officer of the municipal government, may simply chair a multi-member governing body with little or no independent power, or may play a solely ceremonial role. A mayor's duties and responsibilities may be to appoint and oversee municipal managers and employees, provide basic governmental services to constituents, and execute the laws and ordinances passed by a municipal governing body (or mandated by a state, territorial or national governing 
body). Options for selection of a mayor include direct election by the public, or selection by an elected governing council or board.

The term ''mayor'' shares a linguistic origin with the military rank of ''[[Major (rank)|major]]'', both ultimately derived from French {{Lang|fr|majeur}}, which in turn derives from Latin {{Lang|la|maior}}, the comparative form of the adjective {{Lang|la|magnus}}.