pastor
- a minister or priest in charge of a church.
- a person having spiritual care of a number of persons.
- Ornithology. any of various starlings, especially Sturnus roseus (rosy pastor) of Europe and Asia.
- to serve as the pastor of: He pastored the church here for many years.
Origin of pastor
Examples from the Web for pastor
Contemporary Examples
Pastor Gaylard Williams earned a good reputation among his evangelical ilk.
The pastor told sheriff deputies that he spoke with the younger man “but said nothing inappropriate.”
The victim, whom The Daily Beast is not naming, asked what Williams wanted and the pastor allegedly “reached in and grabbed him.”
“I only touched his shoulder,” the pastor told sheriffs, according to the police report.
His grandfather, a pastor, had visited the church decades before—in the 1980s—when the church was popular within the community.
Historical Examples
The use of a Scripture lesson is, of course, optional with the pastor.
An Explanation of Luther's Small CatechismJoseph Stump
The Pastor is to be honored for the sake of the office which he holds.
An Explanation of Luther's Small CatechismJoseph Stump
Then the pastor delivers a prayer and there is another hymn.
Camps, Quarters and Casual PlacesArchibald Forbes
When the parson rose, he turned to Elvin, less like the pastor than the familiar friend.
Meadow GrassAlice Brown
And there were musical evenings with the Pastor and the Avocat and their wives.
The Incomplete AmoristE. Nesbit
pastor
- a clergyman or priest in charge of a congregation
- a person who exercises spiritual guidance over a number of people
- an archaic word for shepherd (def. 1)
- Also called: rosy pastor a S Asian starling, Sturnus roseus, having glossy black head and wings and a pale pink body
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for pastor
n.
late 14c. (mid-13c. as a surname), "shepherd," also "spiritual guide, shepherd of souls," from Old French pastor, pastur "herdsman, shepherd" (12c.), from Latin pastorem (nominative pastor) "shepherd," from pastus, past participle of pascere "to lead to pasture, set to grazing, cause to eat," from PIE root *pa- "to tend, keep, pasture, feed, guard, protect" (see food). The spiritual sense was in Church Latin (cf. Gregory's "Cura Pastoralis"). The verb in the Christian sense is from 1872.
pastor
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.