Syn.
— Delegate; official; ambassador; clergyman; parson; priest.
MINISTER
Min"is*ter, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ministered; p. pr. & vb. n.
Ministering.] Etym: [OE. ministren, OF. ministrer, fr. L. ministrare.
See Minister, n.]
Defn: 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.
MINISTER
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.
MINISTERIAL
Min`is*te"ri*al, a. Etym: [L. ministerialis: cf. F. ministériel. See
Minister, and cf. Minstrel.]
1. Of or pertaining to ministry or service; serving; attendant. Enlightening spirits and ministerial flames. Prior.
2. Of or pertaining to the office of a minister or to the ministry as a body, whether civil or sacerdotal. "Ministerial offices." Bacon. "A ministerial measure." Junius. "Ministerial garments." Hooker.
3. Tending to advance or promote; contributive. "Ministerial to intellectual culture." De Quincey. The ministerial benches, the benches in the House of Commons occupied by members of the cabinet and their supporters; — also, the persons occupying them. "Very solid and very brilliant talents distinguish the ministerial benches." Burke.