▪ I. pastor, n.
(ˈpɑːstə(r), ˈpæ-)
Forms: 4–7 pastour, 6 -oure, -ure, 6– pastor.
[ME. and AF. pastour, = OF. pastor, pastur (12th c. in Littré), ad. L. pastōr-em shepherd, lit. ‘feeder, giver of pasture’, agent-n. from pasc-ĕre to feed, give pasture to. In 16th c. the ending was changed to -or after L.]
1. A herdsman or shepherd. Now unusual.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 300 Pore peple as plouȝmen and pastours of bestis. 1484 Caxton Fable of æsop iii. i, Of the pastour or herdman. 1596 C. Fitzgeffrey Sir F. Drake (1881) 19 Above the pitch of pastors rurall reede. 1609 Bible (Douay) Ezek. xxxiv. comm., Pastors do lawfully eate of the milke of their flock. 1774 Pennant Tour Scot. in 1772. 107 Flocks of sheep, attended by little pastors. 1885 A. H. Keane in Jrnl. Anthrop. Inst. XV. 225 Of these nomad pastors there are two classes: 1. Those who always stay with their herds... 2. Those who..migrate to the coast. |
2. A shepherd of souls; one who has the spiritual oversight over a company or body of Christians, as bishop, priest, minister, etc.; spec. the minister in charge of a church or congregation, with particular reference to the spiritual care of his ‘flock’.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 488 Þei wil[ne] a name, To be pastours and preche. c 1450 Holland Howlat 80 Fayne wald I wyte,..Quha is fader of all foule, pastour and pape. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Catech., To submitte my selfe to all my gouernours, teachers, spirituall pastours, and maisters. Ibid., Order. Priests, To be the messengers, the watchemen, the Pastours, and the stewardes of the Lorde, to teache, to premonisshe, to feede, and prouyde for the Lordes famylye. 1557 N.T. (Genev.) Eph. iv. 11 He..gaue some to be Apostles,..and some Pastours [earlier versions shepherds] and Teachers. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. viii. 90 Robert Schau, quha pastour was of the parischone of Minto. 1627 Cosin's Collect. Priv. Devot., Prayer Ember Weeks 356 So rule and gouerne the hearts and minds of thy seruants, the Bishops and Pastors of thy Flocke, that they may lay hands suddenly on no man, but [etc.]. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. i. iv. Wks. (1851) 112 Wherein..is the office of a Prelat excellent above that of a Pastor? 1782 Priestley Corrupt. Chr. III. x. 233 Each city was to have its own pastor. 1833 H. Martineau Three Ages ii. 36 A young Presbyterian clergyman, the beloved pastor of a large congregation. 1878 R. W. Dale Lect. Preach. viii. 224 Most of you..are to be pastors of churches, not missionaries or evangelists. |
3. One who exercises protecting care or guidance over a number of people.
| c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 94 Kynge ys þe Pastour of Barouns. a 1529 Skelton Bk. Three Fooles Wks. 1843 I. 203 Romulus and Remus..were pastours, for they establyshed lawes in the citie. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xxi. §8 A Moses or a David, pastors of their people. 1715–20 Pope Iliad xiv. 612 His people's pastor, Hyperenor fell. 1897 Daily News 6 July 4/1 Two good ‘Unionists’ told against their pastors and masters on the Treasury bench. |
4. Ornith. A genus of starlings (Temminck, 1815) of which the species Pastor roseus (see ouzel 2 b) is an occasional visitor to the British islands.
| 1825 Selby Illustr. Brit. Ornith. I. 94 The Rose-coloured Pastor, the Rose-coloured Ouzel..of different ornithologists. 1837 Swainson Nat. Hist. Birds II. 100 In the genus Pastor..the bill..is compressed. 1894 R. B. Sharpe Handbk. Birds Gt. Brit. I. 26 In addition to its brilliant plumage, the Pastor has an enormous crest. |
5. ‘A small tropical fish (Nomeus Gronovii) that lives among the tentacles of the hydrozoan Physalia or Portuguese man-of-war; hence called Portuguese man-of-war fish’ (Webster Suppl. 1902).
6. Comb., as pastor-like adj.
| 1641 Milton Reform. ii. Wks. (1851) 68 The Pastorlike and Apostolick imitation of meeke and unlordly Discipline. 1670 ― Hist. Eng. iii. ibid. 97 To the ignominy and scandall of thir pastorlike profession. 1851 I. Taylor Wesley (1852) 240 The less skillful, or the less pastor-hearted, minister. |
Hence ˈpastoress, a female pastor; ˈpastorhood, a body of pastors: = pastorate 2; ˈpastorize v. trans., to provide with a pastor or pastors; ˈpastorless a., lacking a pastor; ˈpastorling, a feeble or incompetent pastor.
| 1887 Amer. Missionary (N.Y.) Mar. 75 The industrial training is now under the direction of the *pastoress, Mrs. M―. |
| 1839 Times 15 July, The political brawlings of the dissenting *pastorhood. |
| 1882 Guardian 5 July 933/3 Difficulties of *pastorising small scattered bodies. |
| a 1711 Ken Hymnotheo Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 30 *Pastorless the Flock remain'd. |
| 1624 R. Hall tr. Bp. Hall's Noah's Dove 7 Negligent *pastorlings..which haue more heed to their owne hides, than to the soules of their people. |
▪ II. pastor, v.
(ˈpɑːstə(r), ˈpæ-)
[f. prec. n.: cf. to herd, to shepherd.]
† 1. trans. To take care of (beasts); to shepherd.
| 1587 Churchyard Worth. Wales (1876) 97 Nor heard of Beasts, to pastor and to feede. |
2. To take charge of (a spiritual flock) as pastor.
| 1872 J. Ross Ministry of Reconcil. 47 When any church is pastored by a minister as his sole work. 1884 Regions Beyond Mar., The flock..which he lovingly pastored. |
Hence ˈpastoring vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1623 T. Ailesbury Serm. 5 But I..repaire, for the Catholike veritie, to the Church, where the pastoring eagles are. 1894 Kingdom (Minneapolis) 20 Apr., Having given half his life to pastoring and preaching. |
▪ III. pastor
obs. form of pasture.