Min"is*ter (?), n. [OE.
ministre, F. ministre, fr. L. minister, orig. a
double comparative from the root of minor less, and hence
meaning, an inferior, a servant. See 1st Minor, and cf.
Master, Minstrel.]
1. A servant; a subordinate; an officer or
assistant of inferior rank; hence, an agent, an instrument.
Moses rose up, and his minister
Joshua.
Ex. xxiv. 13.
I chose
Camillo for the minister, to poison
My friend Polixenes.
Shak.
2. An officer of justice. [Obs.]
I cry out the on the ministres, quod he,
That shoulde keep and rule this cité.
Chaucer.
3. One to whom the sovereign or executive
head of a government intrusts the management of affairs of state, or
some department of such affairs.
Ministers to kings, whose eyes, ears, and hands
they are, must be answerable to God and man.
Bacon.
4. A representative of a government, sent to
the court, or seat of government, of a foreign nation to transact
diplomatic business.
&fist; Ambassadors are classed (in the diplomatic sense) in the
first rank of public ministers, ministers plenipotentiary in the
second. "The United States diplomatic service employs two classes of
ministers, -- ministers plenipotentiary and ministers resident."
Abbott.
5. One who serves at the altar; one who
performs sacerdotal duties; the pastor of a church duly authorized or
licensed to preach the gospel and administer the sacraments.
Addison.
Syn. -- Delegate; official; ambassador; clergyman; parson;
priest.
Min"is*ter, v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Ministered (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Ministering.] [OE. ministren, OF. ministrer, fr.
L. ministrare. See Minister, n.]
To furnish or apply; to afford; to supply; to
administer.
He that ministereth seed to the
sower.
2 Cor. ix. 10.
We minister to God reason to suspect
us.
Jer. Taylor.
Min"is*ter, v. i. 1.
To act as a servant, attendant, or agent; to attend and serve;
to perform service in any office, sacred or secular.
The Son of man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister.
Matt. xx. 28.
2. To supply or to things needful; esp., to
supply consolation or remedies. Matt. xxv. 44.
Canst thou not minister to a mind
diseased?
Shak.
