A civil officer or magistrate among the ancient Romans. [
1913 Webster]
" Originally the pretor was a kind of third consul; but at an early period two pretors were appointed, the first of whom (praetor urbanus) was a kind of mayor or city judge; the other (praetor peregrinus) was a judge of cases in which one or both of the parties were foreigners. Still later, the number of pretors, or judges, was further increased."
[1913 Webster]