Link Centre Dictionary

minister

mi·nis·ter

UK/ˈmɪn.ɪs.tə/ US/ˈmɪn.əˌstɚ/ common
noun (4) verb (2)

noun

1.

a person authorized to conduct religious worship

  • “clergymen are usually called ministers in Protestant churches”
Synonyms
2.

a person appointed to a high office in the government

  • “Minister of Finance”
Synonyms
3.

a diplomat representing one government to another; ranks below ambassador

Synonyms
4.

the job of a head of a government department

verb

1.

attend to the wants and needs of others

  • “I have to minister to my mother all the time”
2.

work as a minister

  • “She is ministering in an old parish”

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • cabinet minister
  • catechetical minister
  • chief minister
  • crime minister
  • deputy first minister
  • ecclesial minister
  • Eucharistic minister
  • extraordinary minister

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.