n.1 a substitute, esp. for a person in a specific role or office.
2 Brit. a deputy, esp. of a bishop in granting marriage licences.
3 US a judge in charge of probate, inheritance, and guardianship.
Phrases and idioms:
surrogate mother
1. a person acting the role of mother.
2 a woman who bears a child on behalf of another woman, from her own egg fertilized by the other woman's partner.
Derivatives:
surrogacy n. surrogateship n.
Etymology: L surrogatus past part. of surrogare elect as a substitute (as SUR-(1), rogare ask)