Ringleader
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words [1]
"one who stands first" (protos, "first," histemi, "to cause to stand"), was used of soldiers, one who stands in the front rank; hence, metaphorically, "a leader," Acts 24:5 .
Webster's Dictionary [2]
(1): ( n.) The leader of a circle of dancers; hence, the leader of a number of persons acting together; the leader of a herd of animals.
(2): ( n.) Opprobriously, a leader of a body of men engaged in the violation of law or in an illegal enterprise, as rioters, mutineers, or the like.
King James Dictionary [3]
RING'LEADER, n. ring and leader. The leader of any association of men engaged in violating of law or an illegal enterprise, as rioters, mutineers and the like. this name is derived from the practice which men associating to oppose law have sometimes adopted, of signing their names to articles of agreement in a ring, that no one of their number might be distinguished as the leader.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [4]
ring´lēd - ẽr : In Acts 24:5 the translation of πρωτοστάτης , prōtostátēs , "one who stands first." Not an opprobrious word in the Greek.
