Starosta

Starost(a) (Cyrillic: старост/а, Latin: capitaneus, German:Starost) as a title designates an official or unofficial leader, used in various contexts through most of Slavic history. One can translate it as "senior" or "elder". The word comes from the Slavic root star-, "old". In Poland, a starosta would administer a territory called a starostwo.