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English
Etymology
From Middle French, Old French pastoral, from Latin pāstōrālis, from pāstor (“shepherd”), + adjective suffix -ālis.
Pronunciation
Adjective
pastoral (comparative more pastoral, superlative most pastoral)
- Of or pertaining to shepherds or herders of other livestock.
1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 160:Like the Mesolithic age of 10,000-8000 B.C., the period 6000-4000 B.C. seems to be one of the fall of fortresses and the rise of pastoral nomadism.
- Relating to rural life and scenes, in particular of poetry.
We were living a pastoral life.
1798, Wordsworth, Lines Composed a Few Lines Above Tintern Abbey, lines 16–18:[…] these pastoral farms, / Green to the very door; and wreaths of smoke / Sent up, in silence, from among the trees!
1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. , volume II, London: Richard Bentley, , (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, pages 219–220:There was a tone, too, of pastoral poetry shed over the new scenes to which they were just introduced, that had a greater effect from the contrast to those, artificial and crowded, which they had just left.
- Relating to the care of souls, to the pastor of a church or to any local religious leader charged with the service of individual parishioners, i.e. a priest or rabbi.
pastoral duties
a pastoral letter
2024 April 8, Jason Horowitz, Elisabetta Povoledo, quoting Víctor Manuel Fernández, “Vatican Document Casts Gender Change and Fluidity as Threat to Human Dignity”, in The New York Times:“In terms of pastoral consequences,” Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, who leads the Vatican’s office on doctrine, said in a news conference Monday, “the principle of welcoming all is clear in the words of Pope Francis.”
Derived terms
Translations
of or pertaining to shepherds
relating to the care of souls, or to the pastor of a church
Noun
pastoral (plural pastorals)
- A poem describing the life and manners of shepherds; a poem in which the speakers assume the character of shepherds; an idyll; a bucolic.
1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XV, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. , volume II, London: Henry Colburn, , →OCLC, page 115:Ethel was silent from surprise: she had prepared herself for anger—even sorrow; but ridicule left her without an answer. What could she say to a hearer, who only smiled, and to whom emotion was only a scene in a pastoral?
- (music) A cantata relating to rural life; a composition for instruments characterized by simplicity and sweetness; a lyrical composition the subject of which is taken from rural life.
- (religion, Christianity) A letter of a pastor to his charge; specifically, a letter addressed by a bishop to his diocese.
- (religion, Christianity) A letter of the House of Bishops, to be read in each parish.
Translations
letter of the house of bishops
Translations to be checked
Anagrams
Catalan
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin pāstōrālis.
Pronunciation
Adjective
pastoral m or f (masculine and feminine plural pastorals)
- pastoral
Further reading
French
Etymology
From Old French pastoral, from Latin pastorālis, from pāstor (“shepherd”) (whence pâtre).
Pronunciation
Adjective
pastoral (feminine pastorale, masculine plural pastoraux, feminine plural pastorales)
- pastoral
Further reading
German
Pronunciation
Adjective
pastoral (strong nominative masculine singular pastoraler, not comparable)
- pastoral
Declension
Positive forms of pastoral (uncomparable)
Further reading
- “pastoral” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “pastoral” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
Portuguese
Etymology
From Latin pāstōrālis.
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -al, -aw
- Hyphenation: pas‧to‧ral
Adjective
pastoral m or f (plural pastorais)
- Alternative form of pastoril
- pastoral (relating to the pastor of a church)
Noun
pastoral f (plural pastorais)
- (Roman Catholicism) a letter written by a bishop or the pope explaining a doctrine
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French pastoral, from Latin pastorale.
Adjective
pastoral m or n (feminine singular pastorală, masculine plural pastorali, feminine and neuter plural pastorale)
- pastoral
Declension
Spanish
Etymology
From Latin pāstōrālis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pastoˈɾal/
- Rhymes: -al
- Syllabification: pas‧to‧ral
Adjective
pastoral m or f (masculine and feminine plural pastorales)
- pastoral
Derived terms
Noun
pastoral f (plural pastorales)
- pastoral
Further reading