minister

See also: Minister

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪnɪstə/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪnɨstɚ/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

Noun

minister (plural ministers)

1. A person who is trained to preach, to perform religious ceremonies, and to afford pastoral care at a Protestant church.

   The minister said a prayer on behalf of the entire congregation.

2. A politician who heads a ministry (national or regional government department for public service).

   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.
   • c. 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, “The VVinters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene ii], page 287, column 2:

      […], I choſe / Camillo for the miniſter, to poyſon / My friend Polixenes: […]

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Exodus 24:13, column 1:

     And Moſes roſe vp, and his miniſter Ioſhua: and Moſes went vp into the mount of God.

Usage notes

Not to be confused with minster.

Hypernyms

• (Chief minister in areas of Central Europe and Scandinavia): provost

Derived terms

• ministress

Related terms

• ministerial
• ministerium
• ministrix
• ministry

Translations

person who is trained to perform religious ceremonies at a Protestant church

• Afrikaans: predikant (af), dominee (af)
• Arabic: قِسِّيس‎ (ar) m (qissīs), دَاعِيَة‎ (ar) (dāʿiya)
• Belarusian: свяшчэ́ннiк m (svjaščénnik)
• Bulgarian: свеще́ник (bg) m (svešténik)
• Burmese: ဘုန်းကြီး (my) (bhun:kri:)
• Catalan: ministre de l'església m
• Cherokee: ᎠᎵᏣᏙᎲᏍᎩ (alitsadohvsgi)
• Chichewa: mbusa
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 牧師 (zh), 牧师 (zh) (mùshī)

• Danish: præst (da) c, pastor c
• Dutch: dominee (nl) m
• Erzya: туростор (turostor)
• Finnish: pappi (fi)
• French: pasteur (fr)
• Galician: ministro m
• Greek: πάστορας (el) m (pástoras)
• Hebrew: כֹּמֶר / כומר‎ (he) m (komer)
• Hungarian: lelkész (hu), lelkipásztor (hu)

• Icelandic: prestur (is) m
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: qeşe (ku) m or f

• Lao: ນິຄົນ (ni khon)
• Maori: minita
• Navajo: ééʼ neishoodii
• Pijin: minista
• Plautdietsch: Prädja m
• Polish: pastor (pl) m
• Portuguese: pastor (pt) m
• Romanian: pastor (ro) m
• Russian: свяще́нник (ru) m (svjaščénnik)
• Scottish Gaelic: ministear m
• Sotho: moruti
• Spanish: ministro (es)
• Tagalog: kataluna, ministro (tl)
• Tok Pisin: minista
• Turkmen: ruhany
• Ukrainian: свяще́ник m (svjaščényk)
• Uzbek: ruhoniy (uz)
• Welsh: gweinidog (cy) m

politician who heads a ministry

• Afrikaans: minister (af)
• Albanian: ministër (sq) m
• Arabic: وَزِير‎ m (wazīr)

  Egyptian Arabic: وزير‎ (wazīr)

• Armenian: նախարար (hy) (naxarar)
• Assamese: মন্ত্ৰী (montri), উজীৰ (uzir), মিনিষ্টাৰ (ministar)
• Azerbaijani: nazir (az), vəzir
• Bashkir: министр (ministr)
• Basque: ministro
• Belarusian: міні́стр m (minístr), міні́стар m (minístar) (Taraškievica)
• Bengali: মন্ত্রী (môntri), উজির (bn) (uzir)
• Bole: minista
• Bulgarian: мини́стър m (minístǎr), мини́стърка f (minístǎrka)
• Burmese: ဝန်ကြီး (my) (wankri:)
• Catalan: ministre (ca) m
• Chichewa: nduna
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大臣 (zh) (dàchén), 部長 (zh), 部长 (zh) (bùzhǎng)

• Crimean Tatar: nazir
• Czech: ministr (cs) m
• Danish: minister (da) c
• Dutch: minister (nl) m or f
• Erzya: туростор (turostor)
• Esperanto: ministro (eo)
• Estonian: minister (et)
• Finnish: ministeri (fi)
• French: ministre (fr) m or f
• Galician: ministro m
• Georgian: მინისტრი (minisṭri)
• German: Minister (de) m, (female) Ministerin (de) f
• Greek: υπουργός (el) m or f (ypourgós)

  Ancient: ὑπουργός m (hupourgós)

• Hausa: minista (ha)
• Hebrew: שַׂר‎ (he) m (sar), שָׂרָה‎ (he) f (sara)
• Hindi: वज़ीर m (vazīr), मंत्री (hi) m (mantrī)
• Hungarian: miniszter (hu)
• Iban: menteri
• Icelandic: ráðherra m
• Indonesian: menteri (id)
• Japanese: 大臣 (ja) (だいじん, daijin), 長官 (ja) (ちょうかん, chōkan)
• Javanese: mantri (jv)
• Kazakh: министр (kk) (mïnïstr), уәзір (wäzir)
• Khmer: រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី (km) (rŏət mŭəntrəy), មន្ត្រី (km) (mŭəntrəy)
• Korean: 대신 (ko) (daesin), 장관 (ko) (janggwan)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: wezîr (ku) m or f, şalyar (ku) m or f

• Kyrgyz: министр (ky) (ministr), вазир (ky) (vazir)
• Lao: ລັດຖະມົນຕີ (lat tha mon tī)
• Latvian: ministrs m, ministre f
• Lithuanian: ministras (lt) m, ministrė f
• Macedonian: министер m (minister)
• Malay: menteri (ms)
• Malayalam: മന്ത്രി (ml) (mantri)
• Maori: minita
• Mongolian: сайд (mn) (said)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: minister (no) m

  Nynorsk: minister m

• Occitan: ministre (oc) m
• Old English: þeġen
• Pashto: وزير‎ (ps) m (wazír)
• Persian: وزیر‎ (fa) (vazir)
• Polish: minister (pl) m or f
• Portuguese: ministro (pt)
• Romanian: ministru (ro) m, ministră f
• Russian: мини́стр (ru) m (minístr)
• Sanskrit: मन्त्रि (sa) m (mantri), मन्त्रिन् (sa) (mantrin)
• Scottish Gaelic: ministear m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мѝнистар m

  Roman: mìnistar (sh) m

• Slovak: minister m
• Slovene: minister (sl) m, ministrica f
• Sotho: tona (st)
• Spanish: ministro (es) m
• Swahili: waziri (sw)
• Swedish: minister (sv)
• Tajik: вазир (vazir)
• Tatar: министр (ministr), вәзир (tt) (wäzir)
• Telugu: మంత్రి (te) (mantri)
• Thai: รัฐมนตรี (th) (rát-tà-mon-dtrii)
• Tocharian B: āmaś
• Turkish: bakan (tr), vezir (tr)
• Turkmen: ministr, wezir
• Ukrainian: міні́стр m (minístr)
• Urdu: وزیر‎ (ur) m (vazīr)
• Uyghur: ۋەزىر‎ (wezir)
• Uzbek: vazir (uz), ministr (uz)
• Vietnamese: bộ trưởng
• Welsh: gweinidog (cy) m
• Yiddish: מיניסטער‎ (minister)

someone who serves others

• Afrikaans: dienaar
• Dutch: dienaar (nl)

• Finnish: palvelija (fi)
• Gothic: 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌱𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 m (andbahts)
• Russian: исполни́тель (ru) m (ispolnítelʹ)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} ministro (ia)

Verb

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. to function as a clergyman or as the officiant in church worship
3. (transitive, archaic) To afford, to give, to supply.
   • 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene i], page 7, column 2:

     I do vvell beleeue your Highneſſe, and did it to miniſter occaſion to theſe Gentlemen, […]

     (to give opportunity to these gentlemen)

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 2 Corinthians 9:10, column 2:

     ( […] Now he that miniſtreth ſeede to the ſower, both miniſter bread for your foode, and multiply your ſeede ſowen, and encreaſe the fruites of your righteouſneſſe)

   • 1673, Jeremy Taylor, Heniaytos: A Course of Sermons for All the Sundays of the Year […]

     We minister to God reason to suspect us.

Translations

to attend to; to tend

• Bulgarian: служа (bg) (služa)
• German: sich kümmern (de), sorgen (de)
• Russian: служи́ть (ru) n (služítʹ), помога́ть (ru) n (pomogátʹ)

• Spanish: ministrar (es)

See also

• cleric
• father
• parson
• pastor
• priest
• vicar

Further reading

• minister in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• minister in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Tenriism, Terminis, interims, ministre, smirnite

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Danish

Etymology

From Latin minister.

Noun

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

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

Descendants

• → Greenlandic: ministeri

Further reading

• “minister” in Den Danske Ordbog

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Dutch

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /miˈnɪstər/

Noun

minister m (plural ministers, diminutive ministertje n)

1. A minister, a person who is commissioned by the government for public service.

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Inari Sami

Etymology

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

Noun

minister

1. minister (politician)

Inflection

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

• ruttâminister

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Ladin

Noun

minister m (plural ministeres)

1. minister
2. ministry

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Latin

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /miˈnis.ter/, [mɪˈnɪs̠t̪ɛr]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /miˈnis.ter/, [miˈnist̪ɛr]

Noun

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

1. attendant, servant, waiter
2. agent, aide
3. accomplice

Declension

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

• magister
• ministra f
• ministrīx f

Derived terms

• ministerium
• ministrō

Descendants

• Catalan: ministre
• → Danish: minister
  • → Greenlandic: ministeri
• Galician: ministro
• German: Minister
• Hungarian: miniszter
• Italian: ministro

• Occitan: ministre
• → Old French: ministre
  • French: ministre
  • Middle English: ministre
    • English: minister
• Polish: minister
• Portuguese: ministro
• Romanian: ministru
• Russian: мини́стр (minístr)
• Serbo-Croatian: ministar
• Spanish: ministro

References

• 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

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Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

minister

1. Alternative form of ministre

Etymology 2

Verb

minister

1. Alternative form of mynystren

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Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

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

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

Derived terms

Terms derived from minister

• finansminister
• førsteminister
• justisminister

• miljøminister
• samferdselsminister

• statsminister
• utenriksminister

References

• “minister” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

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

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

Derived terms

Terms derived from minister

• finansminister
• førsteminister, fyrsteminister

• justisminister
• miljøminister

• samferdselsminister
• statsminister

References

• “minister” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Polish

Etymology

From Latin minister.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mʲiˈɲi.stɛr/

Noun

minister m pers

1. (politics) minister

Declension

declension of minister

	singular	plural
nominative	minister	ministrowie
genitive	ministra	ministrów
dative	ministrowi	ministrom
accusative	ministra	ministrów
instrumental	ministrem	ministrami
locative	ministrze	ministrach
vocative	ministrze	ministrowie

Noun

minister f

1. (politics) female minister

Declension

The feminine version is indeclinable.

Further reading

• minister in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• minister in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Romanian

Etymology

From French ministère.

Noun

minister n (plural ministere)

1. ministry

Related terms

• ministru

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Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

minister c

1. a minister (member of government, cabinet)
2. a minister (in the foreign affairs administration)

Declension

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

Derived terms

• finansminister
• försvarsminister
• justitieminister
• kulturminister
• miljöminister
• statsminister
• utbildningsminister
• utrikesminister

 

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West Frisian

Etymology

Borrowed from French ministre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /miˈnɪstər/, /məˈnɪstər/

Noun

minister c (plural ministers)

1. minister (of a government)

Derived terms

• minister-presidint

Further reading

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