minister
Americannoun
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a person authorized to conduct religious worship; member of the clergy; pastor.
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a person authorized to administer sacraments, as at Mass.
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a person appointed by or under the authority of a sovereign or head of a government to some high office of state, especially to that of head of an administrative department.
the minister of finance.
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a diplomatic representative accredited by one government to another and ranking next below an ambassador.
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a person acting as the agent or instrument of another.
verb (used with object)
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to administer or apply.
to minister the last rites.
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Archaic. to furnish; supply.
verb (used without object)
noun
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(esp in Presbyterian and some Nonconformist Churches) a member of the clergy
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a person appointed to head a government department
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any diplomatic agent accredited to a foreign government or head of state
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short for minister plenipotentiary or envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary See envoy 1
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Also called (in full): minister resident. a diplomat ranking after an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary
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a person who attends to the needs of others, esp in religious matters
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a person who acts as the agent or servant of a person or thing
verb
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to attend to the needs (of); take care (of)
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archaic (tr) to provide; supply
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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ministershipnoun
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subministernoun
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underministernoun
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preministerverb (used without object)
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unministeredadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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ministersimple
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ministerssimple
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have ministeredperfect
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has ministeredperfect
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am ministeringprogressive
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are ministeringprogressive
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is ministeringprogressive
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have been ministeringperfect progressive
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has been ministeringperfect progressive
Past
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ministeredsimple
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had ministeredperfect
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was ministeringprogressive
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were ministeringprogressive
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had been ministeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of minister
First recorded in 1250–1300; (for the noun) Middle English minister, ministre, from Old French ministre, from Latin minister “servant,” from minus “less” (adverb form of minor minor ) + -ter, noun suffix; (for the verb) Middle English ministren, from Old French ministrer, from Latin ministrāre “to act as a servant, attend,” derivative of minister; cf. master ( def. )
Explanation
You might meet a minister of the religious kind — a pastor or a rector. Or, you may meet a minister of the government kind — a prime minister or a minister of finance, for example. You don't have to be religious to minister. When you minister to someone, you take care of them. All of these meanings of minister — both as a noun and as a verb — contain a grain of the original Latin meaning, "servant." A minister in a church serves his or her flock, and a prime minister serves his or her country.
Vocabulary lists containing minister
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act V
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The Monroe Doctrine (1823)
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Ronald Reagan, "Tear Down This Wall" (1987)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"You can clap now," a Downing Street official with a clipboard instructed the staff eagerly lining the halls of No 10 in the moments before the new prime minister walked in.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
It comes two days after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as education minister over repeated failures in the conduct of competitive exams that have fuelled anger among millions of young Indians.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, blamed Zelensky on Sunday for a strike that he said killed a sailor on an Iranian commercial vessel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
The Sun leads with Andy Burnham's "dead ringer", who calls herself "Mandy Burnham" on social media, placed next to the new prime minister.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
British prime minister Lloyd George worried that certain treaty terms would prove “a constant source of irritation,” stirring up resentment among the Germans.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
Noting that Peru has had 15 interior ministers in the past five years, Mr. López-Dolz, now a political-risk adviser based in Texas, believes Peru can defeat criminality only if it tackles the problem strategically.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Around 500 additional soldiers will be sent to "support the firefighters" battling blazes in southwest France, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said after a crisis meeting with his key ministers.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
Many prime ministers arriving in office between general elections crave their own mandate.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Stephenson said ministers should work with the EU to secure alternative markets for the refinery's alumina while preparing contingency plans, including examining nationalisation if necessary.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
These, God’s ministers, had indeed grown fat, and their dress was rich and various.
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
The Rev. Rob Schenck, a former Christian nationalist who once ministered to the right in Washington, told me that Suozzi said at the time that he was living at C Street.
From Salon ● May 29, 2026
Powe’s relatives belonged to the Knights, named for a 17th century Spanish Jesuit who ministered to enslaved people in Colombia and is the country’s patron saint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2025
Rev MacKenzie ministered the late Queen in her final days and supported the royal family following her death.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2024
In 2016, Francis canonized Argentina’s first saint: José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, a poncho-wearing, mate-sipping “gaucho priest” who ministered in the Argentine peripheries, and was in many ways a 19th-century version of Francis himself.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 9, 2024
She shooed me out of the room and ministered to Perilee.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
Describing her experience ministering as a person of colour, Rev Eileen Cremin said it was "overall positive".
From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2026
Bedraggled and bleeding, he opens his eyes to find Anna ministering to him and is rhapsodically smitten.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025
My recent employment has been as a hospice chaplain, ministering to dying people and their families.
From Salon ● Nov. 3, 2024
The commission cited Lin’s work ministering to fellow prisoners and translating the Bible into Chinese.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2024
“A ministering angel,” said Bono, and pressed her free hand to his lips.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
