I. ˈminə̇stə(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English ministre, from Old French, from Latin minister servant; akin to Latin minor smaller — more at minor
1. : one that acts under the orders or authority of another : one employed by another for the execution of purposes : agent
the angels are ministers of the divine will — H.P.Liddon
a principle to which time is the minister and not the master — P.E.More
2.
a. : one duly authorized (as by ordination) to conduct Christian worship, preach the gospel, and administer the sacraments: as
(1) : a priest who officiates at an altar in the conduct of a service of worship (as a mass)
(2) : a deacon or subdeacon at solemn services
(3) : a clergyman of a Protestant church
(4) : preacher
(5) chiefly England : a member of a nonconformist church
b. : one who performs the duties of a clergyman during his customary vocation but who has never been formally licensed or ordained as a minister
3. archaic : one that waits upon or serves : attendant , servant
cooks and other inferior ministers employed in the … kitchens — Edward Gibbon
4. : one exercising non-Christian clerical functions
5.
a. or minister-general : the superior of one of several religious orders
b. : the assistant to the rector or the bursar of a Jesuit house
6. : a high office of state entrusted by the chief of state or the executive head of a government with the management of a division of governmental activities
British … ministers who exercise the powers of government derive their formal authority from the king — J.A.Corry
Canadian … ministers carry the political responsibility for their departments — Alexander Brady
— see foreign minister , prime minister ; compare commissar 2
7.
a. : a diplomatic representative (as an ambassador) accredited by a sovereign or government to the court or seat of government of a foreign state
shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls — U.S.Constitution
b. : a diplomatic representative ranking below an ambassador and usually accredited to states of less importance
send ambassadors to most countries and ministers to the less important ones — F.A.Magruder
— compare minister plenipotentiary , minister resident
II. verb
( ministered ; ministered ; ministering -t(ə)riŋ ; ministers )
Etymology: Middle English ministren, from Middle French ministrer, from Latin ministrare to serve, dish up, from minister servant
intransitive verb
1. : to serve or officiate in worship : act in the capacity of or perform the functions of a minister of religion — often used with to
became rector of a small parish where he ministered for several years
after a rabbi has ministered to a congregation for … fifteen years — B.Z.Bokser
2. : to attend to the wants and comforts of someone : give aid : serve — usually used with to
happily he … had ministered to this man — Louis Auchincloss
during the plague he ministered to the sick
3. : to do things needful or helpful : be serviceable or conducive — usually used with to
a tract for the times … ministered to the needs of the moment — R.W.Southern
this conclusion ministered to complacency — R.H.Bainton
transitive verb
1. archaic : furnish , supply , afford
limbs … made to minister delight — P.J.Bailey
neither give heed to fables … which minister questions — 1 Tim 1:4 (Authorized Version)
2. archaic : administer , dispense
I thither went to minister the sacrament — John Wilson †1854
that he might minister the Gospel to the Gentiles — R.M.Benson