pastoral

[pas-ter-uhl, pah-ster-]

adjective

1. having the simplicity, charm, serenity, or other characteristics generally attributed to rural areas.

   pastoral scenery; the pastoral life.

   Synonyms: simple, rural, rustic

2. pertaining to the country or to life in the country; rural; rustic.

3. portraying or suggesting idyllically the life of shepherds or of the country, as a work of literature, art, or music.

   pastoral poetry; a pastoral symphony.

   Synonyms: idyllic, bucolic

4. of, relating to, or consisting of shepherds.

5. of or relating to a pastor or the duties of a pastor.

   pastoral visits to a hospital.

6. used for pasture, as land.

noun

1. a poem, play, or the like, dealing with the life of shepherds, commonly in a conventional or artificial manner, or with simple rural life generally; a bucolic.

   Synonyms: georgic, idyll, eclogue

2. a picture or work of art representing the shepherds' life.

3. Music.,  pastorale.

4. a treatise on the duties of a pastor.

5. a letter to the people from their spiritual pastor.

6. a letter to the clergy or people of an ecclesiastical district from its bishop.

7. Also called pastoral staff. crosier.

pastoral

/ ˈpɑːstərəl /

adjective

1. of, characterized by, or depicting rural life, scenery, etc

2. (of a literary work) dealing with an idealized form of rural existence in a conventional way

3. (of land) used for pasture

4. denoting or relating to the branch of theology dealing with the duties of a clergyman or priest to his congregation

5. of or relating to a clergyman or priest in charge of a congregation or his duties as such

6. of or relating to a teacher's responsibility for the personal, as the distinct from the educational, development of pupils

7. of or relating to shepherds, their work, etc

noun

1. a literary work or picture portraying rural life, esp the lives of shepherds in an idealizing way See also eclogue

2. music a variant of pastorale

3. Christianity

   1. a letter from a clergyman to the people under his charge

   2. the letter of a bishop to the clergy or people of his diocese

   3. Also called: pastoral staff. the crosier or staff carried by a bishop as a symbol of his pastoral responsibilities

pastoral

1. A work of art that celebrates the cultivated enjoyment of the countryside. The poem “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” by Christopher Marlowe, is a pastoral. Its first stanza reads:

   Come live with me, and be my love;

   And we will all the pleasures prove

   That hills and valleys, dales and fields,

   Woods or steepy mountain yields.

Other Word Forms

• pastorally adverb
• nonpastoral adjective
• nonpastorally adverb
• semipastoral adjective
• semipastorally adverb
• unpastoral adjective
• unpastorally adverb
• pastoralism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of pastoral¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin pāstōrālis, equivalent to pāstōr-, stem of pāstor ( pastor ) + -ālis -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of pastoral¹

C15: from Latin, from _pastor

Example Sentences

The technique of “Train Dreams”—the stylized juxtaposition of images and narration, the kaleidoscopic jumble of anxious memories and pastoral portraits—is not the stuff of an Old West parable.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Try as they might, the Babushkawoos could find nothing symbolic, pastoral, or even particularly unhappy about the picture.

Read more on Literature

It is a pastoral place where drivers watch for Amish buggies at dusk and a Union soldier monument anchors the town square.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“We are concerned by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants. We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

One, published in the master plan, shows a pastoral valley embraced by ridges on the east and west.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• agrarian 
• bucolic 
• idyllic 
• rural 
• rustic