Dictionary.com

Popular Searches

 Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

pastor

American  
[pas-ter, pah-ster] / ˈpæs tər, ˈpɑ stər /

noun

  1. a minister or priest in charge of a church.

  2. a person having spiritual care of a number of persons.

  3. Ornithology. any of various starlings, especially Sturnus roseus rosy pastor of Europe and Asia.

verb (used with object)

  1. to serve as the pastor of.

    He pastored the church here for many years.
pastor British  
/ ˈpɑːstə /

noun

  1. a clergyman or priest in charge of a congregation

  2. a person who exercises spiritual guidance over a number of people

  3. an archaic word for shepherd

  4. Also called: rosy pastor.  a S Asian starling, Sturnus roseus, having glossy black head and wings and a pale pink body

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
pastor Cultural  

  1. In some groups of Christians (see also Christian), the clergyman in charge of an individual congregation. The term is used this way in the Lutheran Church and Roman Catholic Church and, to a lesser extent, by Baptists and in the Protestant Episcopal Church.

Other Word Forms

  • pastorless adjective
  • pastorlike adjective
  • pastorly adjective
  • pastorship noun
  • subpastor noun

Etymology

Origin of pastor

1325–75; < Latin pāstor shepherd, literally, feeder, equivalent to pās-, base of pāscere to put to pasture, feed + -tor -tor; replacing Middle English pastour < Anglo-French

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.

In 2019, pastor Wang Yi was sentenced to nine years in prison for incitement of subversion of state power and illegal business operations.

From The Wall Street Journal

He didn’t come out until his father, a pastor, passed away.

From Los Angeles Times

At that time, his parents had moved to California so his father, a pastor, could do advanced studies in theology.

From The Wall Street Journal

Hoffman added that, as a pastor and theologian, he was concerned by not just the religious questions people ask AI, but also by the sorts of beliefs that Christians might be forming about AI.

From Salon

For years Ms Liew fought to find out what happened to her husband, transforming from an ordinary pastor's wife to a fierce campaigner.

From BBC

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.