▪ I. minster1
(ˈmɪnstə(r))
Forms: 1, 4–6 mynster, 3–6 mynstre, 2 minister, 3 munster, -tre, 4 mynyster, -tre, menestre, mynstire, 4–5 mynstere, mynistre, 5 mynester, mynstir, ministre, minstre, 1, 6– minster.
[OE. mynster:—prehistoric *munistrjo, a. popular L. *monisterium = Eccl. L. monastērium monastery. Cf. OHG. munistri (MHG., mod.G. münster), MDu. monster (early mod.Du. munster), ON. mustari.]
† 1. A monastery; a Christian religious house.
| a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. i. xxxiii. (Schipper), Wæs se æresta abbud þæs ylcan mynstres [L. eiusdem monasterii] Petrus haten. c 1205 Lay. 29357 Gurmund falde þa munstres and an heng alle þa munkes. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 261 Faste by þe mynystre [L. cenobium] of Seint Michel is marbil i-founde. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6695 A mynstere, Duellyng for monkes and him in fere. c 1475 Partenay 2596 Faire maillers, that ministre roiall. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge ii. 91 Erle Leofrice repared..The mynstre of Werburge, gyuyng therto liberte. |
2. The church of a monastery; a church which had its origin in a monastic establishment; also applied
gen. to any church of considerable size or importance,
esp. a collegiate or cathedral church.
| c 960 Laws K. Edgar i. i, Man agife ælce teoðunge to þam ealdan mynstre [L. ad matrem ecclesiam] þe seo hyrnes tohyrð. 1056–66 Inscription (at Kirkdale Ch. Yorksh.), Orm Gamal svna bohte sc̃s Gregorivs minster ðonne hit wes æl tobrocan & tofalan. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3230 Þe heye munstre of winchestre. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 1063 Þe al-myȝty was her mynyster mete, Þe lombe þe saker-fyse þer to reget. 1389 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 30 Seynt Willyams toumbe in ye mynstre of ye trinyte. c 1450 Merlin vi. 98 Than thei..yeden a-gein in-to the mynistre to heir oute the masse. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xiii. ix. 624, I shal assay to bere hit [the shield], and soo bare hit oute of the mynstre. c 1599 Acc. Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 278 The colligiat churche or minster..in Ripo'. a 1645 Habington Surv. Worcs. in Worcs. Hist. Soc. Proc. ii. 191 The cloyster of the Mynster of Worcester. 1675 Ogilby Brit. (1698) 20 The Cathedral or Minster [at Lincoln] is a stately structure. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 4 July, As for the minster [at York], I know not how to distinguish it, except by its great size. a 1878 Sir G. G. Scott Lect. Archit. (1879) I. 200 Yorkshire is especially the land of minsters and abbey-churches. 1898 Leach in Beverley Ch. Act Bk. (Surtees) Introd. 34 The word minster itself is peculiarly one used not of monasteries but of secular churches—York, Beverley, Ripon, Southwell, Lincoln, Lichfield, Wimborne, these are the churches to which the title of minster has clung,..and they were one and all churches of secular canons. |
† b. transf. A temple.
Obs.| c 1200 Ormin 7580 Þeȝȝ comenn inntill Ȝerrsalæm & inntill Godess minnstre. a 1400–50 Alexander 2174 When he was full þare & fedd he flittis with his ost, To Tergarontes he teȝe þare tiȝt was a mynstre. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xvi. 174 Before the Mynstre of this Ydole is a Vyvere. 1562 T. Phaer æneid vii. Z iv b, Three hundred mynsters chief along the towne wyde open stands. 1581 T. Nuce Seneca's Octavia ii. ii. 174 b, Whom as a God in minsters we adorne. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
minster-aisle (also
fig.),
minster-church,
minster-door,
minster-fund,
minster-gate,
minster-garth,
minster pile,
minster-quire,
minster-yard;
† minster book, a book used in church.
| c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 4263 Þe *mynster yles were made as warde. 1863 Hawthorne Our Old Home, Lichfield I. 211 Overarched by a minster-aisle of venerable trees. |
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 109 Alse þe holi *minster-boc seið. |
| 1828 Scott F. M. Perth iii, I believe she thinks the whole world is one great *Minster-church. |
| 13.. St. Erkenwolde 128 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 269 *Mynster-dores were makyd opone, quene matens were songene. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 268 As mote in at a munster dor, so mukel wern his chawlez. 14.. Sir Beues (M.) 4275 The kyngis doughter was..to the mynester durre I-led, Vnto sir Myles was she wed. |
| 1829 G. Poulson Beverlac 681 Trustees of the *minster fund. |
| c 1400 St. Alexius (Cotton) 200 Withowtyn att the *mynster yate. |
| 1393 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) I. 185 My graven in the *mynster Garth. |
| 1866 Neale Sequences & Hymns 131 Lincoln's *minster pile. |
| 1634–5 Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) 72 Erected in the *minster-quire. |
| 1842 W. White Directory Lincs. 124 *Minster yard. |
▪ II. † ˈminster2 Obs. [From the name of Münster a German city, capital of Westphalia.] A kind of linen cloth originally imported from Münster.
| 1612 Sc. Bk. Customs in Halyburton's Ledger (1867) 321 Minsters the rowle contening xv hundreth elnis, iii{supc}xx li. 1698–9 Houghton Collect. Husb. & Trade No. 343 (1727) II. 382 Of minsters from Germany 74246 ells. |
▪ III. minster obs. form of
minister v.