minister
English
Pronunciation
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈmɪn.əˌstɚ/, /ˈmɪn.ɪ-/
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈmɪn.ɪs.tə/
Audio (US): (file) Audio (UK): (file)
Etymology 1
From Middle English ministre, from Old French ministre, from Latin minister (“an attendant, servant, assistant, a priest's assistant or other under official”), from minor (“less”) + -ter; see minor. Doublet of Minorite.
Noun
minister (plural ministers)
- (Protestantism) A person who is trained to preach, to perform religious ceremonies, and to afford pastoral care at a Protestant church.
- Hypernym: cleric
- The minister said a prayer on behalf of the entire congregation.
- (Roman Catholicism) A person (either a layperson or an ordained clergy member) who is commissioned to perform some act on behalf of the Catholic Church.
- (government) A politician who heads a ministry
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:government minister
- Hypernym: provost (chief minister in areas of Central Europe and Scandinavia)
- He was newly appointed to be Minister of the Interior.
- 1661 (first printed), Francis Bacon, A Letter of Advice to the Duke of Buckingham:
- Ministers to kings, whose eyes, ears, and hands they are, must be answerable to God and man.
- In diplomacy, the rank of diplomat directly below ambassador.
- A servant; a subordinate; an officer or assistant of inferior rank; hence, an agent, an instrument.
- c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 287, column 2:
- […], I choſe / Camillo for the miniſter, to poyſon / My friend Polixenes: […]
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 24:13, column 1:
- And Moſes roſe vp, and his miniſter Ioſhua: and Moſes went vp into the mount of God.
Usage notes
Not to be confused with minster.
Derived terms
- cabinet minister
- catechetical minister
- chief minister
- culture minister
- deputy first minister
- ecclesial minister
- e-minister
- Eucharistic minister
- extraordinary minister
- first minister
- foreign minister
- interior minister
- junior minister
- lay minister
- liturgical minister
- minister of justice
- minister of state
- minister-president
- minister without portfolio
- ministress
- ordinary minister
- prime minister
- resident minister
- shadow minister
- stickit minister
Related terms
Descendants
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
See also
Etymology 2
Inherited from Middle English mynystren, from Middle French ministrer, from Old French menistrer, ministrer and Latin ministrō, from minister.
Verb
minister (third-person singular simple present ministers, present participle ministering, simple past and past participle ministered)
- (transitive) To attend to (the needs of); to tend; to take care (of); to give aid; to give service.
- (intransitive) To function as a clergyman or as the officiant in church worship.
- (transitive, archaic) To afford, to give, to supply.
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 7, column 2:
- I do vvell beleeue your Highneſſe, and did it to miniſter occaſion to theſe Gentlemen, […]
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 9:10, column 2:
- ( […] Now he that miniſtreth ſeede to the ſower, both miniſter bread for your foode, and multiply your ſeede ſowen, and encreaſe the fruites of your righteouſneſſe)
- 1651–1653, Jer[emy] Taylor, ΕΝΙΑΥΤΟΣ [Eniautos]. A Course of Sermons for All the Sundays of the Year. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Royston […], published 1655, →OCLC:
- We minister to God reason to suspect us.
Translations
Further reading
- “minister”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “minister”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
Danish
Etymology
Noun
minister c (definite singular ministeren, indefinite plural ministre, definite plural ministrene)
- (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)
Descendants
- → Greenlandic: ministeri
Further reading
Dutch
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Borrowed from French ministre. Used in political contexts since the 16th century.
Noun
minister m (plural ministers, diminutive ministertje n)
- (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)
Etymology 2
From Latin minister. Used in this sense since at least 1269.
Noun
minister m (plural ministers, diminutive ministertje n)
Descendants
References
- "minister" at etymologiebank.nl
- Woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal door M. de Vries & L.A. te Winkel. 43 banden. 's-Gravenhage, Nijhoff, 1864-2001
Estonian
Pronunciation
Noun
minister (genitive ministri, partitive ministrit)
- (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)
Declension
Declension of minister (ÕS type 2/õpik, no gradation) | |||
---|---|---|---|
singular | plural | ||
nominative | minister | ministrid | |
accusative | nom. | ||
gen. | ministri | ||
genitive | ministrite | ||
partitive | ministrit | ministreid | |
illative | ministrisse | ministritesse ministreisse | |
inessive | ministris | ministrites ministreis | |
elative | ministrist | ministritest ministreist | |
allative | ministrile | ministritele ministreile | |
adessive | ministril | ministritel ministreil | |
ablative | ministrilt | ministritelt ministreilt | |
translative | ministriks | ministriteks ministreiks | |
terminative | ministrini | ministriteni | |
essive | ministrina | ministritena | |
abessive | ministrita | ministriteta | |
comitative | ministriga | ministritega |
Derived terms
Further reading
- “minister”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009
- “minister”, in [ÕS] Eesti õigekeelsussõnaraamat ÕS 2018 [Estonian Spelling Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2018, →ISBN
- minister in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)
Inari Sami
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
minister
- (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)
Inflection
Odd inflection | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
Nominative | minister | ministereh |
Accusative | minister | ministerijd |
Genitive | minister | ministerij |
Illative | ministerân | ministeráid |
Locative | ministerist | ministerijn |
Comitative | ministeráin | ministerijguin |
Abessive | ministerttáá | ministerijttáá |
Essive | ministerin | — |
Partitive | ministerid | — |
Derived terms
Kashubian
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from German Minister.
Pronunciation
Noun
minister m pers (related adjective ministrów or ministersczi or ministerialny)
- (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)
Declension
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | minister | ministrowie |
genitive | ministra | ministrów |
dative | ministrowi | ministróm |
accusative | ministra | ministrów |
instrumental | ministrã | ministrama |
locative | ministrze | ministrach |
vocative | minister/ministrze | ministrowie |
Derived terms
Further reading
- Stefan Ramułt (1893) “mińister”, in Słownik języka pomorskiego czyli kaszubskiego (in Kashubian), page 101
- Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “minister”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi[1]
- “minister”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022
Ladin
Noun
minister m (plural ministeres)
Latin
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *minosteros. Equivalent to minus + comparative suffix *-teros. Compare magister.
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /miˈnis.ter/, [mɪˈnɪs̠t̪ɛr]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /miˈnis.ter/, [miˈnist̪er]
Noun
minister m (genitive ministrī, feminine ministra or ministrīx); second declension
Declension
Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er).
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | minister | ministrī |
Genitive | ministrī | ministrōrum |
Dative | ministrō | ministrīs |
Accusative | ministrum | ministrōs |
Ablative | ministrō | ministrīs |
Vocative | minister | ministrī |
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
Descendants
- Catalan: ministre
- → Danish: minister
- → Greenlandic: ministeri
- → Galician: ministro
- German: Minister
- Hungarian: miniszter
- Italian: ministro
- Occitan: ministre
- → Old French: ministre
- → Old Polish: minister (learned)
- → Portuguese: ministro
- Romanian: ministru
- Russian: мини́стр (minístr)
- Serbo-Croatian: ministar
- Sicilian: ministru
- Spanish: ministro
References
- “minister”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “minister”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
Middle English
Etymology 1
Noun
minister
- Alternative form of ministre
Etymology 2
Verb
minister
- Alternative form of mynystren
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
minister m (definite singular ministeren, indefinite plural ministere or ministre or ministrer, definite plural ministerne or ministrene)
- (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)
Derived terms
References
- “minister” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Noun
minister m (definite singular ministeren, indefinite plural ministrar, definite plural ministrane)
- (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)
Derived terms
References
- “minister” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old Polish
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin minister.[1][2][3] First attested in 1484.
Pronunciation
Noun
minister m pers (related adjective ministrowski)
- (religion, attested in Lesser Poland) minister (senior member of the tertiary fraternity, assistant and deputy of the monk who takes care of the fraternity)
- 1892 [1484], Hieronim Łopaciński, editor, Reguła trzeciego zakonu św. Franciszka i drobniejsze zabytki języka polskiego z końca w. XV i początku XVI[2], Krakow, page 716:
- Ministrovye albo prelaczy thego braczthva (ministri loci) mayą sye o tho vczyecz do bysskupow
- [Ministrowie albo prełaci tego bractwa (ministri loci) mają sie o to uciec do biskupow]
Descendants
References
- ^ Mirosław Bańko, Lidia Wiśniakowska (2021) “minister”, in Wielki słownik wyrazów obcych, →ISBN
- ^ Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “minister”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
- ^ Witold Doroszewski, editor (1958–1969), “minister”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), Warszawa: PWN
- B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “minister”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN
Polish
Etymology
Inherited from Old Polish minister. Sense 1 is a semantic loan from French ministre.[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /miˈɲis.tɛr/
- (Middle Polish) IPA(key): /miˈɲis.tɛr/
Audio: (file) - Rhymes: -istɛr
- Syllabification: mi‧nis‧ter
Noun
minister m pers (female equivalent minister or ministerka, abbreviation min.)
- (government) minister (politician who heads a ministry)
- (government) high-ranking official in the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland
- (obsolete, Protestantism) minister (a person who is trained to preach, to perform religious ceremonies, and to afford pastoral care at a Protestant church)
- (obsolete, Protestantism) Protestant evangelist, Protestant preacher
- Synonym: predykant
- Hypernyms: homiletyk, kaznodzieja
- (obsolete, Roman Catholicism) abbot, prior (high-ranking member of a monastery)
- (obsolete, Roman Catholicism) minister (assistant in a Jesuit cloister)
- (obsolete, Roman Catholicism) head of a Franciscan cloister
- (government, obsolete) official (person who works in government)
- Synonym: oficjalista
- (Middle Polish, biblical, expressive, paganism) priest of pagan cults
- (Middle Polish, Roman Catholicism, derogatory, ironic) heretical priest; supporter of heresy
- (Middle Polish, Roman Catholicism) Catholic preacher
- (Middle Polish) steward (chief administrator of a medieval manor)
Declension
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | minister | ministrowie/ministry (deprecative) |
genitive | ministra | ministrów |
dative | ministrowi | ministrom |
accusative | ministra | ministrów |
instrumental | ministrem | ministrami |
locative | ministrze | ministrach |
vocative | ministrze | ministrowie |
Noun
minister f (indeclinable)
- (government) female equivalent of minister (“minister”)
Derived terms
Related terms
Trivia
According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), minister is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 6 times in scientific texts, 213 times in news, 30 times in essays, 2 times in fiction, and 9 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 260 times, making it the 201st most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.[2]
References
- ^ Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “minister”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
- ^ Ida Kurcz (1990) “minister”, in Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej [Frequency dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), volume 1, Kraków, Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Języka Polskiego, page 149
Further reading
- minister in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- minister in Polish dictionaries at PWN
- Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “minister”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
- “MINISTER”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 06.03.2013
- Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “minister”, in Słownik języka polskiego
- Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “minister”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
- J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1902), “minister”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 2, Warsaw, page 990
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French ministère.
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Noun
minister n (plural ministere)
Related terms
Silesian
Etymology
Inherited from Old Polish minister.
Pronunciation
Noun
minister m pers (related adjective ministeryjalny)
- (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)
Related terms
Further reading
- minister in silling.org
Swedish
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Noun
minister c
- (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)
- a minister (in the foreign affairs administration)
Declension
Declension of minister | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | minister | ministern | ministrar | ministrarna |
Genitive | ministers | ministerns | ministrars | ministrarnas |
Derived terms
- arbetsmarknadsminister
- barnminister
- biståndsminister
- bostadsminister
- civilminister
- demokratiminister
- energiminister
- EU-minister
- fackminister
- finansmarknadsminister
- finansminister
- folkhälsominister
- försvarsminister
- gymnasieminister
- handelsminister
- idrottsminister
- infrastrukturminister
- innovationsminister
- inrikesminister
- integrationsminister
- it-minister
- jordbruksminister
- justitieminister
- jämställdhetsminister
- klimatminister
- konsumentminister
- kulturminister
- kunskapslyftsminister
- landsbygdsminister
- migrationsminister
- miljöminister
- ministerlista
- ministermöte
- ministerportfölj
- ministerpost
- ministerpresident
- ministerråd
- ministerstyre
- ministertaburett
- näringsminister
- premiärminister
- rolighetsminister
- samarbetsminister
- sjukvårdsminister
- skuggminister
- socialförsäkringsminister
- socialminister
- stadsutvecklingsminister
- statsminister
- utbildningsminister
- utrikesminister
- äldreminister
Related terms
Further reading
- minister in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker
- minister in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)
- Utrikes namnbok (12th ed., 2024)
West Frisian
Etymology
Borrowed from French ministre.
Pronunciation
Noun
minister c (plural ministers)
- (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “minister”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *mey- (small)
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English doublets
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Protestantism
- English terms with usage examples
- en:Roman Catholicism
- en:Government
- English terms with quotations
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English terms with archaic senses
- en:Occupations
- en:People
- en:Religion
- Danish terms borrowed from Latin
- Danish terms derived from Latin
- Danish lemmas
- Danish nouns
- Danish common-gender nouns
- da:Government
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Dutch terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *mey-
- Dutch terms borrowed from French
- Dutch terms derived from French
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -s
- Dutch masculine nouns
- nl:Government
- Dutch terms borrowed from Latin
- Dutch terms derived from Latin
- nl:Religion
- Estonian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Estonian lemmas
- Estonian nouns
- et:Government
- Estonian õpik-type nominals
- et:Occupations
- Inari Sami lemmas
- Inari Sami nouns
- smn:Government
- Inari Sami odd nouns
- Kashubian terms derived from French
- Kashubian terms derived from Latin
- Kashubian terms borrowed from German
- Kashubian terms derived from German
- Kashubian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Kashubian/istɛr
- Rhymes:Kashubian/istɛr/3 syllables
- Kashubian lemmas
- Kashubian nouns
- Kashubian masculine nouns
- Kashubian personal nouns
- csb:Government
- csb:Occupations
- Ladin lemmas
- Ladin nouns
- Ladin masculine nouns
- Latin terms inherited from Proto-Italic
- Latin terms derived from Proto-Italic
- Latin 3-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin lemmas
- Latin nouns
- Latin second declension nouns
- Latin masculine nouns in the second declension
- Latin masculine nouns
- la:Occupations
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Middle English verbs
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål masculine nouns
- no:Government
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk masculine nouns
- nn:Government
- Old Polish terms borrowed from Latin
- Old Polish learned borrowings from Latin
- Old Polish terms derived from Latin
- Old Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old Polish lemmas
- Old Polish nouns
- Old Polish masculine nouns
- Old Polish personal nouns
- zlw-opl:Religion
- Lesser Poland Old Polish
- Old Polish terms with quotations
- Polish terms derived from Latin
- Polish terms inherited from Old Polish
- Polish terms derived from Old Polish
- Polish semantic loans from French
- Polish terms derived from French
- Polish 3-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Polish terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Polish/istɛr
- Rhymes:Polish/istɛr/3 syllables
- Polish lemmas
- Polish nouns
- Polish masculine nouns
- Polish personal nouns
- pl:Government
- Polish terms with obsolete senses
- pl:Protestantism
- pl:Roman Catholicism
- Middle Polish
- pl:Bible
- pl:Paganism
- Polish derogatory terms
- Polish indeclinable nouns
- Polish feminine nouns
- Polish female equivalent nouns
- pl:Female people
- pl:Male people
- pl:Occupations
- pl:Poland
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian terms with audio links
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian countable nouns
- Romanian neuter nouns
- Silesian terms derived from Latin
- Silesian terms inherited from Old Polish
- Silesian terms derived from Old Polish
- Silesian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Silesian/istɛr
- Rhymes:Silesian/istɛr/3 syllables
- Silesian lemmas
- Silesian nouns
- Silesian masculine nouns
- Silesian personal nouns
- szl:Government
- szl:Occupations
- Swedish terms with audio links
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- sv:Government
- sv:Occupations
- West Frisian terms borrowed from French
- West Frisian terms derived from French
- West Frisian terms with IPA pronunciation
- West Frisian lemmas
- West Frisian nouns
- West Frisian common-gender nouns
- fy:Government