Bible dictionaries
Ringleader
What Bible dictionaries say about “Ringleader”, one article after the other.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary & Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
Ringleader - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)
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.
Matthew George Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary; Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (1828)
The article in Easton + Webster 1828International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE 1915)
ring'-led-er: In Ac 24:5 the translation of protostates, "one who stands first." Not an opprobrious word in the Greek.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia — James Orr, general editor and contributors; CrossWire SWORD module ISBE 2.2
The article in ISBE 1915