MINISTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does minister mean? 

• MINISTER (noun)
  The noun MINISTER has 4 senses:

1. a person authorized to conduct religious worship

2. a person appointed to a high office in the government

3. a diplomat representing one government to another; ranks below ambassador

4. the job of a head of a government department

  Familiarity information: MINISTER used as a noun is uncommon.

• MINISTER (verb)
  The verb MINISTER has 2 senses:

1. attend to the wants and needs of others

2. work as a minister

  Familiarity information: MINISTER used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MINISTER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person authorized to conduct religious worship

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

curate; minister; minister of religion; parson; pastor; rector

Context example:

clergymen are usually called ministers in Protestant churches

Hypernyms ("minister" is a kind of...):

clergyman; man of the cloth; reverend (a member of the clergy and a spiritual leader of the Christian Church)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "minister"):

ministrant (someone who serves as a minister)

Derivation:

minister (work as a minister)

ministerial (of or relating to a minister of religion or the minister's office)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person appointed to a high office in the government

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

government minister; minister

Context example:

Minister of Finance

Hypernyms ("minister" is a kind of...):

executive; executive director (a person responsible for the administration of a business)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "minister"):

cabinet minister (a person who is a member of the cabinet)

finance minister; minister of finance (the minister responsible for state finances)

foreign minister; secretary of state (a government minister for foreign relations)

Instance hyponyms:

Haman ((Old Testament) the minister of the Persian emperor who hated the Jews and was hanged for plotting to massacre them)

Ahmed Zoki Yamani; Yamani (Saudi Arabian minister of petroleum who was a central figure in the creation of OPEC (born in 1930))

Derivation:

ministerial (of or relating to a government minister or ministry)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A diplomat representing one government to another; ranks below ambassador

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

diplomatic minister; minister

Hypernyms ("minister" is a kind of...):

diplomat; diplomatist (an official engaged in international negotiations)

Derivation:

ministerial (of or relating to a government minister or ministry)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The job of a head of a government department

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("minister" is a kind of...):

public service (employment within a government system (especially in the civil service))

Domain region:

Britain; Great Britain; U.K.; UK; United Kingdom; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; 'Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "minister"):

cabinet minister (the job of a senior minister who is a member of the cabinet)

Derivation:

ministerial (of or relating to a government minister or ministry)

• MINISTER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they minister    ... he / she / it ministers   
Past simple: ministered   
Past participle: ministered   
-ing form: ministering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Attend to the wants and needs of others

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

I have to minister to my mother all the time

Hypernyms (to "minister" is one way to...):

attend; look; see; take care (take charge of or deal with)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s to somebody

Derivation:

ministrant (giving practical help to)

ministration (assistance in time of difficulty)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Work as a minister

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

She is ministering in an old parish

Hypernyms (to "minister" is one way to...):

work (exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

minister (a person authorized to conduct religious worship)

ministrant (someone who serves as a minister)

 Context examples 

Oh! no; cautious as a minister of state.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

I retired to rest at night; my slumbers, as it were, waited on and ministered to by the assemblance of grand shapes which I had contemplated during the day.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

That minister had always been my secret enemy, though he outwardly caressed me more than was usual to the moroseness of his nature.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

My husband—yes, my real name is Signora Victor Durando—was the San Pedro minister in London. He met me and married me there.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The great minister showed perceptible hesitation.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Many wise and true sermons are preached us every day by unconscious ministers in street, school, office, or home.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

There is this myth that finance ministers still live by, that you have to let industry pollute or else you won’t develop.

(Pollution is the World’s No. 1 Killer, VOA)

At the Museum of the Environment on Thursday (Oct 20), the minister received two boxes containing more than 800,000 signatures collected by Greenpeace and other organisations.

(Brazil to support South Atlantic whale sanctuary bid, Agência BRASIL)

The minister said one tomb has five entrances that lead to a rectangular hall where two burial shafts are located on the northern and southern sides of the tomb.

(Discovery of Two Tombs Dating Back 3,500 Years Announced in Egypt, VOA)

Ministers began to preach sermons against "Ephemera," and one, who too stoutly stood for much of its content, was expelled for heresy.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)