minister

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See also: Minister

English[edit]

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Pronunciation[edit]

  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈmɪn.əˌstɚ/, /ˈmɪn.ɪ-/
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈmɪn.ɪs.tə/
  • (file)
  • (file)

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English ministre, from Old French ministre, from Latin minister (an attendant, servant, assistant, a priest's assistant or other under official), from minor (less) + -ter; see minor. Doublet of Minorite.

Noun[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

minister (plural ministers)

  1. (religion) A person who is trained to preach, to perform religious ceremonies, and to afford pastoral care at a Protestant church.
    Hypernym: cleric
    The minister said a prayer on behalf of the entire congregation.
  2. (government) A politician who heads a ministry
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:government minister
    Hypernym: provost (chief minister in areas of Central Europe and Scandinavia)
    He was newly appointed to be Minister of the Interior.
    • 1661 (first printed), Francis Bacon, A Letter of Advice to the Duke of Buckingham:
      Ministers to kings, whose eyes, ears, and hands they are, must be answerable to God and man.
  3. In diplomacy, the rank of diplomat directly below ambassador.
  4. A servant; a subordinate; an officer or assistant of inferior rank; hence, an agent, an instrument.
Usage notes[edit]

Not to be confused with minster.

Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
  • Pijin: minista
  • Hausa: ministà
Translations[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Inherited from Middle English mynystren, from Middle French ministrer, from Old French menistrer, ministrer and Latin ministrō, from minister.

Verb[edit]

minister (third-person singular simple present ministers, present participle ministering, simple past and past participle ministered)

  1. (transitive) To attend to (the needs of); to tend; to take care (of); to give aid; to give service.
  2. (intransitive) To function as a clergyman or as the officiant in church worship.
  3. (transitive, archaic) To afford, to give, to supply.
Translations[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Danish[edit]

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia da

Etymology[edit]

From Latin minister.

Noun[edit]

minister c (definite singular ministeren, indefinite plural ministre, definite plural ministrene)

  1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Descendants[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Dutch[edit]

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Borrowed from French ministre. Used in political contexts since the 16th century.

Noun[edit]

minister m (plural ministers, diminutive ministertje n)

  1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Etymology 2[edit]

From Latin minister. Used in this sense since at least 1269.

Noun[edit]

minister m (plural ministers, diminutive ministertje n)

  1. (religion) A servant of a monastery, or assistant of a priest.
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]

Estonian[edit]

Estonian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia et

Pronunciation[edit]

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Noun[edit]

minister (genitive ministri, partitive ministrit)

  1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Declension[edit]

Declension of minister (ÕS type 2/õpik, no gradation)
singular plural
nominative minister ministrid
accusative nom.
gen. ministri
genitive ministrite
partitive ministrit ministreid
illative ministrisse ministritesse
ministreisse
inessive ministris ministrites
ministreis
elative ministrist ministritest
ministreist
allative ministrile ministritele
ministreile
adessive ministril ministritel
ministreil
ablative ministrilt ministritelt
ministreilt
translative ministriks ministriteks
ministreiks
terminative ministrini ministriteni
essive ministrina ministritena
abessive ministrita ministriteta
comitative ministriga ministritega

Derived terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • minister”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009
  • minister”, in [ÕS] Eesti õigekeelsussõnaraamat ÕS 2018 [Estonian Spelling Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2018, →ISBN
  • minister in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)

Inari Sami[edit]

Etymology[edit]

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun[edit]

minister

  1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Inflection[edit]

Odd inflection
singular plural
Nominative minister ministereh
Accusative minister ministerijd
Genitive minister ministerij
Illative ministerân ministeráid
Locative ministerist ministerijn
Comitative ministeráin ministerijguin
Abessive ministerttáá ministerijttáá
Essive ministerin
Partitive ministerid

Derived terms[edit]

Kashubian[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from German Minister.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈmʲiɲistʲɛr/
  • Syllabification: mi‧nis‧ter

Noun[edit]

minister m pers (related adjective ministrów or ministersczi or ministerialny)

  1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Declension[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

noun

Further reading[edit]

  • Stefan Ramułt (1893) “mińister”, in Słownik języka pomorskiego czyli kaszubskiego[2] (in Kashubian), page 101
  • Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “minister”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi[3], volume 1, page 1040
  • minister”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022

Ladin[edit]

Noun[edit]

minister m (plural ministeres)

  1. minister
  2. ministry

Latin[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Italic *minosteros. Equivalent to minus + comparative suffix *-teros. Compare magister.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

minister m (genitive ministrī, feminine ministra or ministrīx); second declension

  1. attendant, servant, slave, waiter
  2. agent, aide
  3. accomplice
    Synonym: cōnscius

Declension[edit]

Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative minister ministrī
Genitive ministrī ministrōrum
Dative ministrō ministrīs
Accusative ministrum ministrōs
Ablative ministrō ministrīs
Vocative minister ministrī

Coordinate terms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

  • minister”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • minister”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Noun[edit]

minister

  1. Alternative form of ministre

Etymology 2[edit]

Verb[edit]

minister

  1. Alternative form of mynystren

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Noun[edit]

minister m (definite singular ministeren, indefinite plural ministere or ministre or ministrer, definite plural ministerne or ministrene)

  1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Noun[edit]

minister m (definite singular ministeren, indefinite plural ministrar, definite plural ministrane)

  1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

Old Polish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Learned borrowing from Latin minister.[1][2][3] First attested in 1484.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): (10th–15th CE) /miɲistɛr/
  • IPA(key): (15th CE) /miɲistɛr/

Noun[edit]

minister m pers (related adjective ministrowski)

  1. (religion) minister (senior member of the tertiary fraternity, assistant and deputy of the monk who takes care of the fraternity)
    • 1892 [1484], Hieronim Łopaciński, editor, Reguła trzeciego zakonu św. Franciszka i drobniejsze zabytki języka polskiego z końca w. XV i początku XVI[4], page 716:
      Ministrovye albo prelaczy thego braczthva (ministri loci) mayą sye o tho vczyecz do bysskupow
      [Ministrowie albo prełaci tego bractwa (ministri loci) mają sie o to uciec do biskupow]

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Mirosław Bańko, Lidia Wiśniakowska (2021) “minister”, in Wielki słownik wyrazów obcych, →ISBN
  2. ^ Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “minister”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
  3. ^ Witold Doroszewski, editor (1958–1969), “minister”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), Warszawa: PWN

Polish[edit]

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Old Polish minister. Sense 1 is a semantic loan from French ministre.[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

minister m pers (female equivalent minister or ministerka, abbreviation min.)

  1. (government) minister (politician who heads a ministry)
  2. (government) high-ranking official in the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland
  3. (obsolete, religion) minister (a person who is trained to preach, to perform religious ceremonies, and to afford pastoral care at a Protestant church)
  4. (obsolete, Protestantism) Protestant evangelist, Protestant preacher
    Synonym: predykant
    Hypernyms: homiletyk, kaznodzieja
  5. (obsolete, Roman Catholicism) abbot, prior (high-ranking member of a monastery)
    Synonyms: opat, przeor
  6. (obsolete, Roman Catholicism) minister (assistant in a Jesuit cloister)
  7. (obsolete, Roman Catholicism) head of a Franciscan cloister
  8. (government, obsolete) official (person who works in government)
    Synonym: oficjalista
  9. (Middle Polish, biblical, expressive, paganism) priest of pagan cults
  10. (Middle Polish, Roman Catholicism, derogatory, ironic) heretical priest; supporter of heresy
  11. (Middle Polish, Roman Catholicism) Catholic preacher
  12. (Middle Polish) steward (chief administrator of a medieval manor)
    Synonyms: klucznik, szafarz, włodarz

Declension[edit]

Noun[edit]

minister f (indeclinable)

  1. (government) female equivalent of minister (minister)

Derived terms[edit]

adjective
nouns

Related terms[edit]

adverb
noun

Trivia[edit]

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), minister is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 6 times in scientific texts, 213 times in news, 30 times in essays, 2 times in fiction, and 9 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 260 times, making it the 201st most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “minister”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
  2. ^ Ida Kurcz (1990) “minister”, in Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej [Frequency dictionary of the Polish language]‎[1] (in Polish), volume 1, Kraków, Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Języka Polskiego, page 149

Further reading[edit]

  • minister in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • minister in Polish dictionaries at PWN
  • Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “minister”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
  • MINISTER”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 06.03.2013
  • Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “minister”, in Słownik języka polskiego[5]
  • Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “minister”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861[6]
  • J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1902), “minister”, in Słownik języka polskiego[7] (in Polish), volume 2, Warsaw, page 990

Romanian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French ministère.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

minister n (plural ministere)

  1. ministry

Related terms[edit]

Silesian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Old Polish minister.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /miˈɲistɛr/
  • Rhymes: -istɛr
  • Syllabification: mi‧ni‧ster

Noun[edit]

minister m pers (related adjective ministeryjalny)

  1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Related terms[edit]

noun

Further reading[edit]

Swedish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

minister c

  1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)
  2. a minister (in the foreign affairs administration)

Declension[edit]

Declension of minister 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative minister ministern ministrar ministrarna
Genitive ministers ministerns ministrars ministrarnas

Derived terms[edit]

West Frisian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French ministre.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /miˈnɪstər/, /məˈnɪstər/

Noun[edit]

minister c (plural ministers)

  1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Derived terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • minister”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011