What does registrar mean?
A registrar is an official entrusted with keeping or maintaining records. In a university or college, the registrar is typically the officer responsible for student enrollment, transcripts, and other academic administration. In legal and governmental settings, the term can refer to an official who receives, records, or authenticates documents, such as a court registrar or a registrar of deeds. The role is formal and institutional, and the word generally implies both responsibility for records and authority over the systems that contain them. Today, registrars may manage databases and online registration systems, but the underlying duty remains similar to that of a traditional keeper of ledgers. The word is useful when discussing education, courts, public administration, and the formal organization of official information.
nounA person or official responsible for maintaining official records, especially in a court, university, or other institution. It can also refer to the official who enrolls students and manages academic records.
- An official responsible for keeping or maintaining records, especially in a court, university, government office, or other institution.
- A university or college official responsible for student enrollment, academic records, and related administrative matters.
"Students must submit their enrollment forms to the registrar before the deadline."
"The court registrar confirmed that the document had been properly filed."
"The university registrar sent the student an updated transcript."
The standard plural is “registrars.”
"The registrars met to discuss the proposed changes to the records system."
From Latin registrator, the registrar literally was a keeper of records: the word survives in the digital age even as the records themselves have moved from ledgers to databases.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does registrar come from?
The word comes through Medieval Latin registrator, a noun derived from Latin registrare, “to register,” itself based on registrum, “a register” or “record.” English borrowed the term for officials who recorded names or documents. Its later educational sense developed from the administrative duties associated with recording student names and academic information.
Related word forms
How registrar is actually used
In educational contexts, “registrar” commonly refers specifically to the officer responsible for enrollment and academic records. In legal and governmental contexts, it may refer more broadly to an official who maintains records or authenticates documents. The word is formal and administrative rather than everyday.
Easily confused with registrar
A registrar is a person or official who keeps records, whereas a registry is the office or system where records are maintained.