I. -rəl noun
( -s )
1.
a.
[Middle English, from Late Latin pastoralis of a pastor (in Cura Pastoralis, title of St. Gregory I's work on pastoral care)]
: a book or treatise on the duties of pastors
b.
[ pastoral (II) ]
: a letter of a pastor to his charge: as
(1) : a letter addressed by a bishop to his diocese
(2) : a letter of the House of Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church to be read in each parish
c. usually capitalized : pastoral epistle — usually used in plural with the
2.
[translation of Latin bucolicum ]
a. : a literary work (as a poem or play) dealing with the life of shepherds or rural life generally in a usually artificial manner and frequently archaic style, typically drawing a conventional contrast between the innocence and serenity of the simple life and the misery and corruption of city and especially court life, and often using the characters as vehicles for the expression of the author's moral, social, or literary views
jaded and oversophisticated denizens of towns devote themselves to pastorals — J.L.Lowes
— compare idyll
b. : pastoral poetry or drama as a literary form or style
the best actors in the world, either for tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral — Shakespeare
c. : a pastoral or rural picture or scene
d. : pastorale
3. or pastoral staff
[probably from Italian pastorale, from Late Latin pastoralis of a pastor, from Latin, of a shepherd]
: crosier
II. adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin pastoralis, from pastor herdsman, shepherd + -alis -al
1.
a.
(1) : of, relating to, or composed of shepherds or herdsmen
a pastoral people, seminomadic in their habits — J.M.Mogey
pastoral simplicity
(2) : devoted to or based upon the raising of sheep or cattle
third-class pastoral land, having a 10-in. rainfall and all held as sheep stations — T.A.Miles
a pastoral economy
b. : of or relating to the countryside as contrasted with the city : rural
charming in its pastoral setting amid these cultivated uplands — American Guide Series: Vermont
c. : portraying or expressive of the life of shepherds or country people especially in an idealized and conventionalized manner
pastoral poetry
pastoral drama
a pastoral symphony
d. : innocent , idyllic
the pastoral legends of America's golden age — August Heckscher
waiting through a long, pastoral afternoon — Time
2.
a.
(1) : of or relating to the spiritual care of a congregation or group of Christians
pastoral duties
a pastoral letter
(2) : of or relating to the pastor of a church
observed that this represented a congregational and not a pastoral reluctance to participate — Episcopal Churchnews
b. : of or relating to spiritual care or guidance especially as carried on through visiting and counseling
a missionary, or at least pastoral activity on the part of the teacher — N.G.Fisher
it was her custom to pay pastoral calls at the residences of her pupils — Frances G. Patton
• pas·to·ral·ly -rəlē, -li adverb
• pas·to·ral·ness noun -es