minister

English

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Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪn.əˌstɚ/, /ˈmɪn.ɪ-/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪn.ɪs.tə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

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.

Noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:

minister

Wikipedia

minister (plural ministers)

2. (religion) A person who is trained to preach, to perform religious ceremonies, and to afford pastoral care at a Protestant church.

   Hypernym: cleric

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

4. (government) A politician who heads a ministry

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:government minister

   Hypernym: provost (chief minister in areas of Central Europe and Scandinavia)

   He was newly appointed to be Minister of the Interior.

   • 1661 (first printed), Francis Bacon, A Letter of Advice to the Duke of Buckingham:

     Ministers to kings, whose eyes, ears, and hands they are, must be answerable to God and man.

6. In diplomacy, the rank of diplomat directly below ambassador.
8. A servant; a subordinate; an officer or assistant of inferior rank; hence, an agent, an instrument.
   • c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 287, column 2:

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

   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Exodus 24:13, column 1:

     And Moſes roſe vp, and his miniſter Ioſhua: and Moſes went vp into the mount of God.

Usage notes

Not to be confused with minster.

Derived terms

Related terms

• ministerial
• ministerium
• ministrix
• ministry

Descendants

• Pijin: minista
• → Hausa: ministà

Translations

See also

• cleric
• father
• parson
• pastor
• priest
• vicar

Etymology 2

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

Verb

minister (third-person singular simple present ministers, present participle ministering, simple past and past participle ministered)

1. (transitive) To attend to (the needs of); to tend; to take care (of); to give aid; to give service.
2. (intransitive) To function as a clergyman or as the officiant in church worship.
3. (transitive, archaic) To afford, to give, to supply.
   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 7, column 2:

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

     (to give opportunity to these gentlemen)

   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 9:10, column 2:

     ( […] Now he that miniſtreth ſeede to the ſower, both miniſter bread for your foode, and multiply your ſeede ſowen, and encreaſe the fruites of your righteouſneſſe)

   • 1651–1653, Jer[emy] Taylor, ΕΝΙΑΥΤΟΣ . A Course of Sermons for All the Sundays of the Year. , 2nd edition, London: Richard Royston , published 1655, →OCLC:

     We minister to God reason to suspect us.

Translations

Further reading

• “minister”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “minister”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Tenriism, Terminis, interims, ministre, smirnite

Danish

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:

minister

Wikipedia ^da

Etymology

From Latin minister.

Noun

minister c (definite singular ministeren, indefinite plural ministre, definite plural ministrene)

1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Descendants

• → Greenlandic: ministeri

Further reading

• “minister” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:

minister

Wikipedia ^nl

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /miˈnɪstər/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French ministre. Used in political contexts since the 16th century.

Noun

minister m (plural ministers, diminutive ministertje n)

1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Etymology 2

From Latin minister. Used in this sense since at least 1269.

Noun

minister m (plural ministers, diminutive ministertje n)

1. (religion) A servant of a monastery, or assistant of a priest.

Descendants

• → Papiamentu: minister
• → Saramaccan: minísíti

References

• "minister" at etymologiebank.nl
• Woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal door M. de Vries & L.A. te Winkel. 43 banden. 's-Gravenhage, Nijhoff, 1864-2001

Estonian

Estonian Wikipedia has an article on:

minister

Wikipedia ^et

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /minˈister/

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Noun

minister (genitive ministri, partitive ministrit)

1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• “minister”, in Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009
• “minister”, in [ÕS] Eesti õigekeelsussõnaraamat ÕS 2018 [Estonian Spelling Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2018, →ISBN
• minister in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)

Inari Sami

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

minister

1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Inflection

Derived terms

• ruttâminister

Kashubian

Alternative forms

• minyster

Etymology

Borrowed from German Minister.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmʲiɲistʲɛr/
• Syllabification: mi‧nis‧ter

Noun

minister m pers (related adjective ministrów or ministersczi or ministerialny)

1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• Stefan Ramułt (1893) “mińister”, in Słownik języka pomorskiego czyli kaszubskiego‎ (in Kashubian), page 101
• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “minister”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎, volume 1, page 1040
• “minister”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022

Ladin

Noun

minister m (plural ministeres)

1. minister
2. ministry

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *minosteros. Equivalent to minus + comparative suffix *-teros. Compare magister.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /miˈnis.ter/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /miˈnis.ter/,

Noun

minister m (genitive ministrī, feminine ministra or ministrīx); second declension

1. attendant, servant, slave, waiter
2. agent, aide
3. accomplice

   Synonym: cōnscius

Declension

Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er).

Coordinate terms

• magister
• ministra f
• ministrīx f

Derived terms

• ministerium
• ministrō

Descendants

References

• “minister”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “minister”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

minister

1. Alternative form of ministre

Etymology 2

Verb

minister

1. Alternative form of mynystren

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

minister

Wikipedia ^no

Noun

minister m (definite singular ministeren, indefinite plural ministere or ministre or ministrer, definite plural ministerne or ministrene)

1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Derived terms

References

• “minister” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:

minister

Wikipedia ⁿⁿ

Noun

minister m (definite singular ministeren, indefinite plural ministrar, definite plural ministrane)

1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Derived terms

References

• “minister” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin minister. First attested in 1484.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /miɲistɛr/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /miɲistɛr/

Noun

minister m pers (related adjective ministrowski)

1. (religion) minister (senior member of the tertiary fraternity, assistant and deputy of the monk who takes care of the fraternity)
   • 1892 [1484], Hieronim Łopaciński, editor, Reguła trzeciego zakonu św. Franciszka i drobniejsze zabytki języka polskiego z końca w. XV i początku XVI‎, page 716:

     Ministrovye albo prelaczy thego braczthva (ministri loci) mayą sye o tho vczyecz do bysskupow

     [Ministrowie albo prełaci tego bractwa (ministri loci) mają sie o to uciec do biskupow]

Descendants

• Polish: minister
• Silesian: minister

References

• B. Sieradzka-Baziur, editor (2011–2015), “minister”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

minister

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish minister. Sense 1 is a semantic loan from French ministre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /miˈɲis.tɛr/
• (Middle Polish) IPA^(key): /miˈɲis.tɛr/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -istɛr
• Syllabification: mi‧nis‧ter

Noun

minister m pers (female equivalent minister or ministerka, abbreviation min.)

2. (government) minister (politician who heads a ministry)
3. (government) high-ranking official in the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland
4. (obsolete, religion) minister (a person who is trained to preach, to perform religious ceremonies, and to afford pastoral care at a Protestant church)
5. (obsolete, Protestantism) Protestant evangelist, Protestant preacher

   Synonym: predykant

   Hypernyms: homiletyk, kaznodzieja

6. (obsolete, Roman Catholicism) abbot, prior (high-ranking member of a monastery)

   Synonyms: opat, przeor

7. (obsolete, Roman Catholicism) minister (assistant in a Jesuit cloister)
8. (obsolete, Roman Catholicism) head of a Franciscan cloister
9. (government, obsolete) official (person who works in government)

   Synonym: oficjalista

10. (Middle Polish, biblical, expressive, paganism) priest of pagan cults
11. (Middle Polish, Roman Catholicism, derogatory, ironic) heretical priest; supporter of heresy
12. (Middle Polish, Roman Catholicism) Catholic preacher
13. (Middle Polish) steward (chief administrator of a medieval manor)

    Synonyms: klucznik, szafarz, włodarz

Declension

Noun

minister f (indeclinable)

1. (government) female equivalent of minister (“minister”)

Derived terms

Related terms

Trivia

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), minister is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 6 times in scientific texts, 213 times in news, 30 times in essays, 2 times in fiction, and 9 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 260 times, making it the 201st most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.

References

Further reading

• minister in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• minister in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “minister”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
• “MINISTER”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 06.03.2013
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “minister”, in Słownik języka polskiego‎
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “minister”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861‎
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1902), “minister”, in Słownik języka polskiego‎ (in Polish), volume 2, Warsaw, page 990

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French ministère.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

minister n (plural ministere)

1. ministry

Related terms

• ministru

Silesian

Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish minister.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /miˈɲistɛr/
• Rhymes: -istɛr
• Syllabification: mi‧ni‧ster

Noun

minister m pers (related adjective ministeryjalny)

1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Related terms

Further reading

• minister in silling.org

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

minister c

1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)
2. a minister (in the foreign affairs administration)

Declension

Derived terms

West Frisian

Etymology

Borrowed from French ministre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /miˈnɪstər/, /məˈnɪstər/

Noun

minister c (plural ministers)

1. (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

Derived terms

• minister-presidint

Further reading

• “minister”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011