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minister

Pronunciation: /ˈmɪnɪstə/
Translate minister | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of minister

noun

  • 1(in certain countries) a head of a government department:the Defence Minister
  • 2 (also minister of religion) a member of the clergy, especially in the Presbyterian and Nonconformist Churches: a minister of the Lutheran church a Unitarian minister
  • (also minister general) the superior of some religious orders.
  • 3a diplomatic agent, usually ranking below an ambassador, representing a state or sovereign in a foreign country.

verb

[no object]
  • 1 (minister to) attend to the needs of (someone):her doctor was busy ministering to the injured
  • 2act as a minister of religion: will these women be permitted to minister as priests?
  • [with object] administer (a sacrament): bishops in England were faced with a loss of priests to minister the sacraments

Derivatives

ministership

noun

Origin:

Middle English (in sense 2 of the noun); also in the sense 'a person acting under the authority of another'): from Old French ministre (noun), ministrer (verb), from Latin minister 'servant', from minus 'less'

minister in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of minister in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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