starosta
In Russia, the head man of a village community.
One family, whose chief…performs the functions of staroste, or magistrate of the village.
In the former kingdom of Poland, a noble holding a castle and domain bestowed by the Crown.
Major-General Bokumbs…has been lately killed by a Peasant, who was hired to commit the murther by a Staroste.
Where it comes from
From Russian ста́роста (stárosta) and Polish starosta, both ultimately from Proto-Slavic *starosta, from *starostь (“old age”) + *-a (suffix forming agent nouns).
Adapted from the Wiktionary entry starosta (CC BY-SA 4.0).