ministry
(ˈmɪnɪstrɪ)
Forms: 4 mynysterye, -ie, mynisterie, minstri, 5–6 mynistery, 5–8 ministery, 6 mynystery, ministeree, minstirie, -y, 6–7 ministerie, -trie, 8 ministrey, 6– ministry.
[ME. ministerie, ad. L. ministerium office, service, f. minister: see minister n. Cf. F. ministère (16th c.), Pr. ministeri, Sp., Pg., It. ministerio. Cf. mister n.1]
1. The action of ministering; the rendering of service; the performance of any office or labour for another. Now only in religious use or coloured by association with this.
| 1382 Wyclif Ezek. xliv. 14, I shal ȝeue hem porters of the hous, in al the mynysterie therof. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione iii. xi. 78 Þou hast ordeined also angels in to mannys mynistery. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 257 b, More pleasaunt was to hym y⊇ poore seruyce of his mortall creatures than shold haue ben y⊇ gloryous mynystery of aungels. c 1555 Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (Camden) 245 That woman doth not pertain to matrimony with whom..there was no matrimonial ministry. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 354 The Oxe is a fellowe labourer with his maister,..so that wee finde speciall benefites redounding to vs, by and through the vse of their ministerie. 1681–6 J. Scott Chr. Life (1747) III. 379 Another of those Ministries which Princes are obliged to render his Church, is, to chasten and correct the irregular and disorderly Members of it. 1777 Robertson Hist. Amer. v. (1778) II. 112 People who were unacquainted with the ministry of domestic animals, or the aid of machines, to facilitate any work of labour. 1892 Tennyson in Mem. (1897) II. 421 My idea of heaven is the perpetual ministry of one soul to another. |
† 2. A mode or kind of service; a specific department of usefulness; a function, office. Obs.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) III. 461 Whiche suppose benefites grauntede to vs for necessites as thynges grevous, seyenge þe ministerys of artes as wickede thynges, destroyenge at the laste the lawes off lyvynge. 1546 Langley Pol. Verg. De Invent. Pref. 5 They that have excogitated..any..handy craftes or ministeries to the maintenance, aid and comfort of the Body. 1553 Bale Vocac. 9 b, From the shippe, from y⊇ costomehowse, & from other homily ministerys, called he not y⊇ stought, sturdye & heady sort of men. 1635–56 Cowley Davideis ii. note 30 The daughters of Cocalus washt Minos at his arrival in Sicilie. But the more ordinary, was to have young and beautiful servants for this and the like ministeries. 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 75 It is not possible for man to sever the wheat from the tares..; that must be the Angels Ministery at the end of mortall things. |
3. The functions, or any specific function, pertaining to a minister of religion; the action, or an act, of ministering in holy things.
| 1382 Wyclif Col. iv. 17 Se the mynisterie, that thou hast takun of the Lord, that thou fulfille it. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 32 It semiþ þat God enioniþ to doctors and dekunis þe minstri of presthed, and of dekunhed, þat are riȝtful. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 405 Seynte Petyr ordeynede ij. bischoppes at Rome, other ij. helperes to hym..to fullefille the ministery off pristes to the peple. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion (Rubric), The Priest that shal execute the holy ministery, shall put upon hym the vesture appoincted for that ministracion. 1581 Marbeck Bk. of Notes 602 In the Baptime, the outward ministerie or mysticall washing doth regenerate. 1612 T. Wilson Chr. Dict., To Prophesie sig[nifieth]..to bee present at the publicke ministry, and partake in the Doctrine thereof. 1635 Swan Spec. M. (1670) 311 A certain Priest..was suspended from his ministry at the Altar. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 149 This high Temple to frequent With Ministeries due and solemn Rites. 1704 Nelson Fest. & Fasts i. xi. (1705) 133 Whereas the other Apostles chose this or that Province as the main Sphere of their Ministry, St. Paul over-ran as it were the whole Roman Empire. 1868 W. B. Marriott (title) Vestiarivm Christianvm. The Origin and Gradual Development of the Dress of Holy Ministry in the Church. |
† b. A ministerial office or charge. Obs.
| 1588 J. Udall Demonstr. Discipl. ii. (Arb.) 24 A minister ought not to be ordained before there be a ministery whervnto he is to be allotted. |
c. The ministration of a particular minister.
| 1623 N. Rogers Str. Vineyard 168 Many who haue heard the Word with thee, beene of the same Parish, vnder the same Ministery. 1879 Geo. Eliot Theo. Such ii. 50 The roofs that have looked out..below the square stone steeple, gathering their..olive-green mosses under all ministries. |
d. The office of minister of the church, or of a religious body or congregation.
| 1824 Scott St. Ronan's xvi, A weak constitution..induced his parents..to educate him for the ministry. 1845 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. II. 37 He was reproached with having intruded himself uncalled into the ministry. 1900 Daily News 11 Dec. 11/3 The Rev. A. B. has retired from the ministry of the M — Congregational Church. |
e. The body of men set apart for spiritual functions in the Christian church or in any religious community. Now rare.
| 1566 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 494 Hes assignit for sustentatioun of the said ministerie certane victuales and money..to be tane up and disponit be the said Ministerie and thair Collectouris or Chalmerlanis. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 315 The maist pairt of the nobilitie and ministrie var in Edinburgh. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. xiii. 364 There were in them [sc. temples] places for the ministerie, colleges, schooles, and houses for priests. 1659 South Serm. (1727) I. iii. 84 We have Christ consulting the Propagation of the Gospel;..sending forth a Ministry, and giving them a Commission. 1847–54 in Webster. [And in later Dicts.] 1848 A. Thomson Orig. Secess. Ch. 164 Patronage..was the most effective instrument of placing a hireling ministry in the pulpits of Scotland. |
4. The condition or fact of being employed as an executive agent or instrument; agency, instrumentality. Now only with religious colouring.
| 1581 Lambarde Eiren. i. v. (1588) 28 All others..be ordained by the meane of the great Seale, and by the ministerie of the L. Chauncellor. 1672 Cave Prim. Chr. iii. ii. (1673) 264 Not by the Ministery of her servants..but with her own hands. 1705 Atterbury Serm. 28 Oct. 29 The Ordinary Ministry of Second Causes. a 1718 Parnell Hermit 231 'Twas my Ministry to deal the Blow. 1753 Smollett Ct. Fathom (1784) 44/1 The messenger, doubly rejoiced at her atchievement, which not only recommended her ministry, but also gratified her malice, returned to her principal. 1817 Coleridge Biog. Lit. xii. (1882) 120 This becomes intelligible to no man by the ministry of mere words from without. 1891 A. Phelps Note-Bk. i. 24 Heroic believers become such by the ministry of heroic pains. |
† b. (Good or bad) conduct as an executive agent. Obs.
| 1700 Tyrrell Hist. Eng. II. 894 The Kingdom..felt the Effects of their ill Ministery. |
5. The body of ministers charged with the administration of a country or state. † In the 18th c. often used without article.
| 1710–11 Swift Lett. (1767) III. 83 The ministry hear me always with appearance of regard. 1779 Wilkes Corr. (1805) V. 213 You told him, that you had voted with ministry as long as any man of honour could. 1791 Burke App. Whigs Wks. VI. 145 A Whig ministry, and a whig house of commons. 1795 ― Regic. Peace iii. Wks. VIII. 324 The parliament has assented to ministry; it is not ministry that has obeyed the impulse of parliament. a 1859 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxiv. (1861) V. 124 The date from which the era of ministries may most properly be reckoned is the day of the meeting of the Parliament after the general election of 1695. 1865 Ld. Iddesleigh Lect. & Ess. (1887) 251 The Cabal Ministry were in power. 1879 M{supc}Carthy Own Times xxiii. II. 186 Their existence as a Ministry was only a question of days. |
b. The name given to certain departments of the British government.
| 1916 Whitaker's Almanack 223/2 Munitions, Ministry of, Minister, Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd George, M.P. 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 18 Apr. 24 The Ministry of Food announces that the milk ration for children will be increased. 1963 Listener 28 Feb. 368/1 It [sc. the Treasury] has also done hitherto the work of a ministry of economic affairs. Ibid. 7 Mar. 422/1 The Ministries of the three Services are to be reorganized under a unified Ministry of Defence. 1968 Times 16 Dec. 7/1 An attempt at a Ministry takeover and a threat to a much valued independence. |
6. With reference to foreign nations: A ministerial department of government; a minister and his associated subordinates. Also, the building in which the business of a (specified) government department is transacted.
| 1877 D. M. Wallace Russia (ed. 2) I. 302 Immediately below these three institutions stand the Ministries, ten in number. Ibid. 305 The Governor..is the local representative of the Ministry of the Interior. |
7. Hist. The name applied to the houses of certain religious orders. [med.L. ministerium.]
| 1889 W. Lockhart Ch. Scot. in 13th C. 25 note, Their [the Red Friars'] houses were called hospitals or ministries. |
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Add: [5.] c. man from the ministry [after the name of a BBC Radio programme, The Men from the Ministry, first broadcast in 1962], a government official or bureaucrat, esp. of an officious kind.
| 1963 Listener 21 Feb. 320/1 The image of bureaucracy, the man from the ministry, striped pants and gobbledygook. 1982 Guardian Weekly 4 Apr. 10 In the present climate, what manager would dare to do more than order a new supply of paper clips without first clearing it with his friendly neighbourhood commissar and the man from the ministry? 1990 Newsday (Nassau ed.) 28 Nov. 109/1 A polite young man from the ministry welcomes me to Iraq and whisks me through immigration. |