Minister

//ˈmɪn.əˌstɚ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person who is trained to preach, to perform religious ceremonies, and to afford pastoral care at a Protestant church.

    "The minister said a prayer on behalf of the entire congregation."

  2. 2
    the job of a head of a government department wordnet
  3. 3
    A person (either a layperson or an ordained clergy member) who is commissioned to perform some act on behalf of the Catholic Church.
  4. 4
    a person authorized to conduct religious worship wordnet
  5. 5
    A politician who heads a ministry

    "He was newly appointed to be Minister of the Interior."

Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    a diplomat representing one government to another; ranks below ambassador wordnet
  2. 7
    In diplomacy, the rank of diplomat directly below ambassador.
  3. 8
    a person appointed to a high office in the government wordnet
  4. 9
    A servant; a subordinate; an officer or assistant of inferior rank; hence, an agent, an instrument.

    "[…], I choſe / Camillo for the miniſter, to poyſon / My friend Polixenes: […]"

Verb
  1. 1
    To attend to (the needs of); to tend; to take care (of); to give aid; to give service. intransitive
  2. 2
    work as a minister wordnet
  3. 3
    To function as a clergyman or as the officiant in church worship. intransitive
  4. 4
    attend to the wants and needs of others wordnet
  5. 5
    To afford, to give, to supply. archaic, transitive

    "I do vvell beleeue your Highneſſe, and did it to miniſter occaſion to theſe Gentlemen, […]"

Synonyms

All synonyms
curategovernment ministerdoabbeaccommodateadminister the eucharist

Example

More examples

"The press besieged the minister with questions."

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle English mynystren, from Middle French ministrer, from Old French menistrer, ministrer and Latin ministrō, from minister.

Related phrases

Eucharistic ministercabinet ministercatechetical ministerchief ministerdeputy first ministere-ministerecclesial ministerex-ministerextraordinary ministerfirst ministerforeign ministerinterior minister

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.