minister
English
Etymology
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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
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Audio (UK): (file)
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Audio (US): (file)
Noun
minister (plural ministers)
- 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.
- A politician who heads a ministry (national or regional government department for public service).
- He was newly appointed to be Minister of the Interior.
- (Can we date this quote by Francis Bacon and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- Ministers to kings, whose eyes, ears, and hands they are, must be answerable to God and man.
- At a diplomacy, the rank of diplomat directly below ambassador.
- A servant; a subordinate; an officer or assistant of inferior rank; hence, an agent, an instrument.
- Bible, Exodus xxiv. 13
- Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua.
- c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
- I chose / Camillo for the minister, to poison / My friend Polixenes.
- Bible, Exodus xxiv. 13
Usage notes
Not to be confused with minster.
Hypernyms
- (Chief minister in areas of Central Europe and Scandinavia): provost
Related terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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Verb
minister (third-person singular simple present ministers, present participle ministering, simple past and past participle ministered)
- (transitive) To attend to (the needs of); to tend; to take care (of); to give aid; to give service.
- A newspaper headline: Couple leaves business world to minister to inner-city children
- to function as a clergyman or as the officiant in church worship
- (transitive, archaic) To afford, to give, to supply.
- Bible, 2 Corinthians ix. 10
- He that ministereth seed to the sower.
- (Can we date this quote by Jeremy Taylor and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- We minister to God reason to suspect us.
- 1610, Shakespeare, The Tempest, act 2 scene 1
- I do well believe your highness; and did it to / minister occasion to these gentlemen [...] (to give opportunity to these gentlemen)
- Bible, 2 Corinthians ix. 10
Translations
See also
Further reading
- “minister”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “minister”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
Danish
Noun
minister c (definite singular ministeren, indefinite plural ministre, definite plural ministrene)
- a minister (politician who heads a ministry)
Dutch
Etymology
2=meyPlease see Module:checkparams for help with this warning.
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
Noun
minister m (plural ministers, diminutive ministertje n)
- A minister, a person who is commissioned by the government for public service.
Inari Sami
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
minister
- 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
Ladin
Noun
minister m (plural ministeres)
Latin
Etymology
From minus + comparative suffix *-tero-. Compare magister.
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /miˈnis.ter/, [mɪˈnɪs̠t̪ɛr]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /miˈnis.ter/, [miˈnist̪er]
Noun
minister m (genitive ministrī); second declension
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
Derived terms
Descendants
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
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old French ministre.
Noun
minister
- Alternative form of ministre
Etymology 2
From Old French ministrer.
Verb
minister
- Alternative form of mynystren
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
minister m (definite singular ministeren, indefinite plural ministere or ministre or ministrer, definite plural ministerne or ministrene)
- (government) a minister (politician who heads a ministry)
Derived terms
References
- “minister” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Noun
minister m (definite singular ministeren, indefinite plural ministrar, definite plural ministrane)
- (government) a minister (politician who heads a ministry)
Derived terms
References
- “minister” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Romanian
Etymology
Noun
minister n (plural ministere)
Related terms
Swedish
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Noun
minister c
Declension
Declension of minister | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | minister | ministern | ministrar | ministrarna |
Genitive | ministers | ministerns | ministrars | ministrarnas |
Derived terms
West Frisian
Etymology
Borrowed from French ministre.
Pronunciation
Noun
minister c (plural ministers)
- minister (of a government)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “minister”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- Requests for date/Francis Bacon
- English terms with quotations
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with archaic senses
- Requests for date/Jeremy Taylor
- en:Government
- en:Occupations
- en:People
- en:Religion
- Danish lemmas
- Danish nouns
- Danish common-gender nouns
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -s
- Dutch masculine nouns
- Inari Sami lemmas
- Inari Sami nouns
- Inari Sami odd nouns
- Ladin lemmas
- Ladin nouns
- Ladin masculine nouns
- Latin 3-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin lemmas
- Latin nouns
- Latin second declension nouns
- Latin masculine nouns in the second declension
- Latin masculine nouns
- la:Occupations
- Middle English terms borrowed from Old French
- Middle English terms derived from Old French
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Middle English verbs
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål masculine nouns
- nb:Government
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk masculine nouns
- nn:Government
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian countable nouns
- Romanian neuter nouns
- Swedish terms with audio links
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- sv:Government
- sv:Occupations
- West Frisian terms borrowed from French
- West Frisian terms derived from French
- West Frisian terms with IPA pronunciation
- West Frisian lemmas
- West Frisian nouns
- West Frisian common-gender nouns