fiscal, noun

/ˈfɪskəl/
Forms:
Formerly also fiscaal, fiscall.
Origin:
DutchShow more Englished form of obsolete Dutch fiscaal.
1. In historical contexts. Usually with initial capital. The chief legal officer at the Cape of Good Hope under Dutch East India Company rule, performing the functions of attorney-general, public prosecutor, chief magistrate, customs officer, and chief of police. Also attributive.
Note:
The post was instituted at the Cape in 1689, and existed also in other Dutch possessions. Until 1785 the Fiscal was responsible only to the board of the Dutch East India Company. After the Cape became a British colony in 1806, the Fiscal’s duties were gradually transferred to other officials.
1696 W. Erle in R. Raven-Hart Cape G.H. 1652–1702 (1971) II. 422To day the Fiscall & the Governrs. Son dined with me.
1768 J. Banks in J. Hawkesworth Acct of Voy. (1773) 442I should very ill deserve the favours they bestowed, if I did not particularly mention the First and Second Governor, and the Fiscal.
1798 S.H. Wilcocke tr. of J.S. Stavorinus’s Voy. to E. Indies I. 570The second in rank next to the governor, and the fiscal, who is independent of him, have the rank of senior merchants.
1806 Gleanings in Afr. (anon.) 251The Chief magistrate at the Cape, is the fiscal...His principal emolument arises from fines, which being a power vested in him as discretionary, is so much the more dangerous to the colonists.
1822 W.J. Burchell Trav. I. 78The Fiscal, being the head of the police and the sitting Magistrate, a great variety of business is daily transacted at his office.
1858 Cape Monthly Mag. III. Mar. 150The Governor..presides over a Council consisting of the second or deputy Governor, the fiscal, the major (who commands the fort), the secretary, the treasurer, the comptroller of provisions, the comptroller of liquors, and the bookkeeper, each of which has a branch of the Company’s service assigned to his care.
1887 S.W. Silver & Co.’s Handbk to S. Afr. 21The Fiscal, who acted as Attorney General and secretary of this court, was supposed to possess legal knowledge.
1921 H.J. Mandelbrote tr. of O.F. Mentzel’s Descr. of Cape of G.H. I. 141Next to the Governor the Fiscal is the most lucrative post at the Cape. He derives heavy fees from judicial proceedings.
1936 Cambridge Hist. of Brit. Empire VIII. 249Apprehensive as to the attitude of the Commercial Advertiser, the Fiscal sent for the printer, Greig, and..demanded 10,000 rix-dollars as security.
1951 L.G. Green Grow Lovely 45For nearly two centuries Cape Town’s chief of police was an official with the title of Fiscal — a name which survives in the shape of Janfiskaal, Jacky Hangman or butcher-bird. That shows you how popular the fiscal was.
1976 A. Delius Border 142The Fiscal asserted that he would censor all further issues of the Magazine.
2. transferred sense. [see quotation 1913.] In full fiscal shrike (formerly also fiscal bird): the butcher bird Lanius collaris of the Laniidae; canary-biter; fiskaal; jack hanger; jackie; jackie hangman; Janfiskaal; Johnny Hangman.
1795 C.R. Hopson tr. of C.P. Thunberg’s Trav. I. 293Fiscal and Canary-byter were the appellations given to a black and white bird (Lanius collaris)..common in the town.
1801 J. Barrow Trav. I. 29Turtle doves, a thrush called the Sprew, and the Fiscal bird..frequent the gardens near the town.
1824 W.J. Burchell Trav. II. 345Several kinds of lanius..are called Fiscal-vogels (Fiscal-birds) by the colonists.
1898 E. Glanville in Empire 30 July (Pettman)The white-throated, black-headed, hook-billed fiscal made soft notes in imitation of the red-speckled breasted wrens, finishing up with a harsh screech which completely gave him away.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 102Other South African names [for the butcher bird] are Jack Hanger, Laksman, Kanariebijter, and Fiscal, all indicating its murderous propensities.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 171Fiscal,..This bird..is as much feared among the smaller birds and animals, which it ruthlessly kills and impales, as the Fiscal of the old Dutch East India Company was by the earlier colonists.
1924 D. Fairbridge Gardens of S. Afr. 99Birds which are among the gardener’s friends are the Robin, the Bok-makerie, and even the maligned Fiscal, which all live on insects.
1931 Guide to Vertebrate Fauna of E. Cape Prov. (Albany Museum) I. 98Lanius collaris, Linn. Fiscal Shrike, Butcher-Bird...Chiefly found in and around the towns, villages and human habitations. Nests cup-shaped.
1967 Some Protected Birds of Cape Prov. (Dept of Nature Conservation) Pl.144Fiscal Shrike, Butcher Bird, Johnny Hangman, The commonest true shrike found in South Africa.
1978 McLachlan & Liversidge Roberts Birds of S. Afr. 503The Fiscal does not tolerate other birds in its haunts and even carries its raids into neighbouring gardens and destroys anything that is too slow to avoid it.
1980 J.O. Oliver Beginner’s Guide to our Birds 84The Fiscal is black and white with a long tail and a white V on its back.
Usually with initial capital.The chief legal officer at the Cape of Good Hope under Dutch East India Company rule, performing the functions of attorney-general, public prosecutor, chief magistrate, customs officer, and chief of police. Also attributive.
In full fiscal shrike (formerly also fiscal bird):the butcher bird Lanius collaris of the Laniidae; canary-biter; fiskaal; jack hanger; jackie; jackie hangman; Janfiskaal; Johnny Hangman.
Derivatives:
Hence (sense 1) fiscalship  noun  rare, the office of fiscal.
1809 H. Alexander in G.M. Theal Rec. of Cape Col. (1900) VI. 470The Deputy Fiscalship there remains directly under the Superintendance, and as an immediate Branch of the Fiscal’s Office in Cape Town.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

16961980

Derivatives

fiscalship

Browse Related Words

By Category

Colonial
Colonial Law

By Origin

Dutch

By Usage

elliptical
historical
fire lily, noun phrasen. phr.fish-cart, nounn.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English