an official in a modern colony who has considerable administrative power
<noun.person>
a provincial governor of consular rank in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire
<noun.person>
an anthropoid ape of the genus Proconsul
<noun.animal>
Proconsul \Pro*con"sul\, n. [L., fr. pro for + consul consul.] (Rom. Antiq.) An officer who discharged the duties of a consul without being himself consul; a governor of, or a military commander in, a province. He was usually one who had previously been consul.