pastor

American  

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

noun

• pastors
  plural

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.

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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

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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.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pastors
  plural

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

Explanation

A pastor is someone with the authority to lead religious services. Pastors lead church services and help others worship. Pastor is a religious title used mostly in Christian churches. The pastor is a leader within a church who has been ordained and therefore given the authority to conduct religious services. The pastor leads Sunday mass and other types of rituals, such as funerals. Members of the congregation may seek a pastor for advice. Within a religious community, a pastor is someone respected very much.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pastor pastors

The pastor did not say whether he benefited from living in a grace-and-favor parsonage.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

Boateng, a 61-year-old pastor at Gospel Light church, has been preaching on commercial vehicles leaving Neoplan station since 2023.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

Zuckerberg spoke alongside Wang at the same keynote address, wearing his new Hillsong pastor drip, the T-shirt this time emblazoned with the slogan “Building is my love language.”

From Slate ● Oct. 3, 2026

“This is our opportunity. We have a small window,” said the Rev. Eddie Anderson, senior pastor at the McCarty Memorial Christian Church nearby.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

Mrs. behaved herself, although I caught her shaking her head woefully when the pastor called Big Ma Mrs. Elijah Lucas and not Ophelia Lucas.

From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia

Its members included senior pastors, first ladies, evangelists, and other women with constituencies of their own that travel far in a state like Michigan.

From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026

I remember helping organize a food bank with several other pastors in the inner city on the Eastern seaboard.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 26, 2026

Ren insisted that financial giving -- used partly to pay pastors -- is part of Biblical teaching practised by Christian churches.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

At the door, Springfield pastors were offering communion and prayer.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026

They have portraits of all the old, dead pastors on the walls.

From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas

Related Words

• cleric
• minister
• preacher
• priest
• rector
• vicar