pastor

[ pas-ter, pah-ster ]

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

/ 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. See shepherd
   an archaic word for shepherd
4. Also calledrosy pastor a S Asian starling, Sturnus roseus, having glossy black head and wings and a pale pink body

pastor

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 .

Derived Forms

• ˈpastorˌship, noun

Other Words From

• pastor·less adjective
• pastor·like pastor·ly adjective
• sub·pastor noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of pastor¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of pastor¹

C14: from Latin: shepherd, from pascere to feed

Example Sentences

One Democrat — Raphael Warnock, the pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church — has consolidated the large majority of the Democratic vote following endorsements from Barack Obama and other prominent Democrats.

From FiveThirtyEight

So, yeah, that was kind of that, and talking to my pastor about faith, were kind of the last hurdles I had to get over.

From Ozy

Shemar had an Xbox but no computer, so the pastor at our church, Rob Hoch, said that it would reimburse me for buying Shemar a laptop.

From ProPublica

When we spoke, Frailey was torn between sharing his story, which he feels could help other pastors and Christians realize they aren’t alone, and making sure he isn’t shutting the door forever on the families who have walked away from his church.

From MIT Technology Review

As The Conversation noted in May, there are pastors who have begun bringing QAnon into their Zoom sermons.

From MIT Technology Review

Pastor Gaylard Williams earned a good reputation among his evangelical ilk.

From The Daily Beast

The pastor told sheriff deputies that he spoke with the younger man “but said nothing inappropriate.”

From The Daily Beast

The victim, whom The Daily Beast is not naming, asked what Williams wanted and the pastor allegedly “reached in and grabbed him.”

From The Daily Beast

“I only touched his shoulder,” the pastor told sheriffs, according to the police report.

From The Daily Beast

His grandfather, a pastor, had visited the church decades before—in the 1980s—when the church was popular within the community.

From The Daily Beast

The cow happily recovered, which the widow entirely attributed to the efficacy of her pastor's prayer.

From Project Gutenberg

The Patriarch went to him, and, with the help of an interpreter, did for him what pertained to his office as a good Pastor.

From Project Gutenberg

And certainly a Pastor is excusable who fails to do things of which he has no knowledge.

From Project Gutenberg

And I am not troubled, following thee for my pastor, and I have not desired the day of man, thou knowest.

From Project Gutenberg

"Yes, Donald; but I never told you that you should swallow them," replies the pastor, who was as witty as his parishioner.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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