'Minister' definitions:

Definition of 'minister'

(from WordNet)
noun
A person authorized to conduct religious worship; "clergymen are usually called ministers in Protestant churches" [syn: curate, minister of religion, minister, parson, pastor, rector]
noun
A person appointed to a high office in the government; "Minister of Finance" [syn: minister, government minister]
noun
A diplomat representing one government to another; ranks below ambassador [syn: minister, diplomatic minister]
noun
The job of a head of a government department
verb
Attend to the wants and needs of others; "I have to minister to my mother all the time"
verb
Work as a minister; "She is ministering in an old parish"

Definition of 'Minister'

From: GCIDE
  • Minister \Min"is*ter\, n. [OE. ministre, F. ministre, fr. L. minister, orig. a double comparative from the root of minor less, and hence meaning, an inferior, a servant. See 1st Minor, and cf. Master, Minstrel.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. A servant; a subordinate; an officer or assistant of inferior rank; hence, an agent, an instrument. [1913 Webster]
  • Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua. --Ex. xxiv. 13. [1913 Webster]
  • I chose Camillo for the minister, to poison My friend Polixenes. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. An officer of justice. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • I cry out the on the ministres, quod he, That shoulde keep and rule this cit['e]. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. One to whom the sovereign or executive head of a government intrusts the management of affairs of state, or some department of such affairs. [1913 Webster]
  • Ministers to kings, whose eyes, ears, and hands they are, must be answerable to God and man. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. A representative of a government, sent to the court, or seat of government, of a foreign nation to transact diplomatic business. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Ambassadors are classed (in the diplomatic sense) in the first rank of public ministers, ministers plenipotentiary in the second. "The United States diplomatic service employs two classes of ministers, -- ministers plenipotentiary and ministers resident." --Abbott. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. One who serves at the altar; one who performs sacerdotal duties; the pastor of a church duly authorized or licensed to preach the gospel and administer the sacraments. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
  • Syn: Delegate; official; ambassador; clergyman; parson; priest. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Minister'

From: GCIDE
  • Minister \Min"is*ter\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ministered; p. pr. & vb. n. Ministering.] [OE. ministren, OF. ministrer, fr. L. ministrare. See Minister, n.] To furnish or apply; to afford; to supply; to administer. [1913 Webster]
  • He that ministereth seed to the sower. --2 Cor. ix. 10. [1913 Webster]
  • We minister to God reason to suspect us. --Jer. Taylor. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Minister'

From: GCIDE
  • Minister \Min"is*ter\, v. i.
  • 1. To act as a servant, attendant, or agent; to attend and serve; to perform service in any office, sacred or secular. [1913 Webster]
  • The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. --Matt. xx. 28. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To supply or to things needful; esp., to supply consolation or remedies; as, to minister to the sick. --Matt. xxv. 44. [1913 Webster]
  • Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased? --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'minister'

From: Easton
  • Minister one who serves, as distinguished from the master.
  • Heb. meshereth, applied to an attendant on one of superior rank, as to Joshua, the servant of Moses (Ex. 33:11), and to the servant of Elisha (2 Kings 4:43). This name is also given to attendants at court (2 Chr. 22:8), and to the priests and Levites (Jer. 33:21; Ezek. 44:11).
  • Heb. pelah (Ezra 7:24), a "minister" of religion. Here used of that class of sanctuary servants called "Solomon's servants" in Ezra 2:55-58 and Neh. 7:57-60.
  • Greek leitourgos, a subordinate public administrator, and in this sense applied to magistrates (Rom. 13:6). It is applied also to our Lord (Heb. 8:2), and to Paul in relation to Christ (Rom. 15:16).
  • Greek hyperetes (literally, "under-rower"), a personal attendant on a superior, thus of the person who waited on the officiating priest in the synagogue (Luke 4:20). It is applied also to John Mark, the attendant on Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:5).
  • Greek diaconos, usually a subordinate officer or assistant employed in relation to the ministry of the gospel, as to Paul and Apollos (1 Cor. 3:5), Tychicus (Eph. 6:21), Epaphras (Col. 1:7), Timothy (1 Thess. 3:2), and also to Christ (Rom. 15:8).

Synonyms of 'minister'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Minister'