# minister
## English
### Pronunciation

* (US) IPA: /ˈmɪn.əˌstɚ/, /ˈmɪn.ɪ-/
* (UK) IPA: /ˈmɪn.ɪs.tə/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (UK):(file)

### Etymology 1

From Middle English ministre, from Old French ministre, from Latin minister (“an attendant, servant, assistant, a priest's assistant or other under official”), from minor (“less”) + -ter; see minor. Doublet of Minorite.

#### Noun

minister (plural ministers)
* (Protestantism) A person who is trained to preach, to perform religious ceremonies, and to afford pastoral care at a Protestant church.
    Hypernym: cleric
    The minister said a prayer on behalf of the entire congregation.
* (Roman Catholicism) A person (either a layperson or an ordained clergy member) who is commissioned to perform some act on behalf of the Catholic Church.
* (government) A politician who heads a ministry
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:government minister
    Hypernym: provost (chief minister in areas of Central Europe and Scandinavia)
    He was newly appointed to be Minister of the Interior.
** 1661 (first printed), Francis Bacon, A Letter of Advice to the Duke of Buckingham:Ministers to kings, whose eyes, ears, and hands they are, must be answerable to God and man.
* In diplomacy, the rank of diplomat directly below ambassador.
* A servant; a subordinate; an officer or assistant of inferior rank; hence, an agent, an instrument.
** c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 287, column 2: […], I choſe / Camillo for the miniſter, to poyſon / My friend Polixenes: […]
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 24:13, column 1:And Moſes roſe vp, and his miniſter Ioſhua: and Moſes went vp into the mount of God.

##### Usage notes

Not to be confused with minster.

##### Derived terms

* cabinet minister
* catechetical minister
* chief minister
* culture minister
* deputy first minister
* ecclesial minister
* e-minister
* Eucharistic minister
* extraordinary minister
* first minister
* foreign minister
* interior minister
* junior minister
* lay minister
* liturgical minister
* minister of justice
* minister of state
* minister-president
* minister without portfolio
* ministress
* ordinary minister
* prime minister
* resident minister
* shadow minister
* stickit minister

##### Related terms

* ministerial
* ministerium
* ministrix
* ministry

##### Descendants

* Pijin: minista
* → Hausa: ministà

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

##### See also

* cleric
* father
* parson
* pastor
* priest
* vicar

### Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle English mynystren, from Middle French ministrer, from Old French menistrer, ministrer and Latin ministrō, from minister.

#### Verb

minister (third-person singular simple present ministers, present participle ministering, simple past and past participle ministered)
* (transitive) To attend to (the needs of); to tend; to take care (of); to give aid; to give service.
* (intransitive) To function as a clergyman or as the officiant in church worship.
* (transitive, archaic) To afford, to give, to supply.
** 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 7, column 2:I do vvell beleeue your Highneſſe, and did it to miniſter occaſion to theſe Gentlemen, […](to give opportunity to these gentlemen)
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 9:10, column 2:( […] Now he that miniſtreth ſeede to the ſower, both miniſter bread for your foode, and multiply your ſeede ſowen, and encreaſe the fruites of your righteouſneſſe)
** 1651–1653, Jer[emy] Taylor, ΕΝΙΑΥΤΟΣ [Eniautos]. A Course of Sermons for All the Sundays of the Year. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Royston […], published 1655, →OCLC:We minister to God reason to suspect us.

##### Translations
### Further reading

* “minister”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “minister”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

### Anagrams

* Tenriism, Terminis, interims, ministre, smirnite

## Danish
### Etymology

From Latin minister.

### Noun

minister c (definite singular ministeren, indefinite plural ministre, definite plural ministrene)
* (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

#### Descendants

* → Greenlandic: ministeri

### Further reading

* “minister” in Den Danske Ordbog

## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)
* IPA: /miˈnɪstər/

### Etymology 1

Borrowed from French ministre. Used in political contexts since the 16th century.

#### Noun

minister m (plural ministers, diminutive ministertje n)
* (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

### Etymology 2

From Latin minister. Used in this sense since at least 1269.

#### Noun

minister m (plural ministers, diminutive ministertje n)
* (religion) a servant of a monastery, or assistant of a priest

##### Descendants

* → Papiamentu: minister
* → Saramaccan: minísíti

##### References

* "minister" at etymologiebank.nl
* Woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal door M. de Vries & L.A. te Winkel. 43 banden. 's-Gravenhage, Nijhoff, 1864-2001

## Estonian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /minˈister/
* This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

### Noun

minister (genitive ministri, partitive ministrit)
* (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

#### Derived terms

* justiitsminister
* kaitseminister
* keskkonnaminister
* peaminister
* tervishoiuminister
* välisminister

### Further reading

* “minister”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009
* “minister”, in [ÕS] Eesti õigekeelsussõnaraamat ÕS 2018 [Estonian Spelling Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2018, →ISBN
* minister in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)

## Inari Sami
### Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

### Noun

minister
* (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

#### Derived terms

* ruttâminister

## Kashubian
### Alternative forms

* minyster

### Etymology

Borrowed from German Minister.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /miˈɲis.tɛr/
* Rhymes: -istɛr
* Syllabification: mi‧nis‧ter

### Noun

minister m pers (related adjective ministrów or ministersczi or ministerialny)
* (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

#### Derived terms

* ministerstwò

### Further reading

* Stefan Ramułt (1893) “mińister”, in Słownik języka pomorskiego czyli kaszubskiego (in Kashubian), page 101
* Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “minister”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎
* “minister”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022

## Ladin
### Noun

minister m (plural ministeres)
* minister
* ministry

## Latin
### Etymology

From Proto-Italic *minosteros. Equivalent to minus + comparative suffix *-teros. Compare magister.

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /miˈnis.ter/, [mɪˈnɪs̠t̪ɛr]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /miˈnis.ter/, [miˈnist̪er]

### Noun

minister m (genitive ministrī, feminine ministra or ministrīx); second declension
* attendant, servant, slave, waiter
* agent, aide
* accomplice
    Synonym: cōnscius

#### Declension

Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er).

#### Coordinate terms

* magister
* ministra f
* ministrīx f

#### Derived terms

* ministerium
* ministrō

#### Descendants

* Catalan: ministre
* → Danish: minister
** → Greenlandic: ministeri
* → Galician: ministro
* German: Minister
* Hungarian: miniszter
* Italian: ministro
* Occitan: ministre
* → Old French: ministre
** French: ministre
** Middle English: ministre
*** English: minister
* → Old Polish: minister (learned)
** Polish: minister
** Silesian: minister
* → Portuguese: ministro
* Romanian: ministru
* Russian: мини́стр (minístr)
* Serbo-Croatian: ministar
* Sicilian: ministru
* Spanish: ministro

### References

* “minister”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “minister”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

## Middle English
### Etymology 1
#### Noun

minister
* Alternative form of ministre

### Etymology 2
#### Verb

minister
* Alternative form of mynystren

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Noun

minister m (definite singular ministeren, indefinite plural ministere or ministre or ministrer, definite plural ministerne or ministrene)
* (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

#### Derived terms

* finansminister
* førsteminister
* justisminister
* miljøminister
* samferdselsminister
* statsminister
* utenriksminister

### References

* “minister” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Noun

minister m (definite singular ministeren, indefinite plural ministrar, definite plural ministrane)
* (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

#### Derived terms

* finansminister
* førsteminister, fyrsteminister
* justisminister
* miljøminister
* samferdselsminister
* statsminister

### References

* “minister” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Old Polish
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin minister. First attested in 1484.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (10th–15th CE) /miɲistɛr/
* IPA: (15th CE) /miɲistɛr/

### Noun

minister m pers (related adjective ministrowski)
* (religion, attested in Lesser Poland) minister (senior member of the tertiary fraternity, assistant and deputy of the monk who takes care of the fraternity)
** 1892 [1484], Hieronim Łopaciński, editor, Reguła trzeciego zakonu św. Franciszka i drobniejsze zabytki języka polskiego z końca w. XV i początku XVI‎, Krakow, page 716:Ministrovye albo prelaczy thego braczthva (ministri loci) mayą sye o tho vczyecz do bysskupow[Ministrowie albo prełaci tego bractwa (ministri loci) mają sie o to uciec do biskupow]

#### Descendants

* Polish: minister
* Silesian: minister

### References

* ↑ Mirosław Bańko, Lidia Wiśniakowska (2021) “minister”, in Wielki słownik wyrazów obcych, →ISBN
* ↑ Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “minister”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
* ↑ Witold Doroszewski, editor (1958–1969), “minister”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), Warszawa: PWN
   * B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “minister”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

## Polish
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish minister. Sense 1 is a semantic loan from French ministre.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /miˈɲis.tɛr/
* (Middle Polish) IPA: /miˈɲis.tɛr/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -istɛr
* Syllabification: mi‧nis‧ter

### Noun

minister m pers (female equivalent minister or ministerka, abbreviation min.)
* (government) minister (politician who heads a ministry)
* (government) high-ranking official in the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland
* (obsolete, Protestantism) minister (a person who is trained to preach, to perform religious ceremonies, and to afford pastoral care at a Protestant church)
* (obsolete, Protestantism) Protestant evangelist, Protestant preacher
    Synonym: predykant
    Hypernyms: homiletyk, kaznodzieja
* (obsolete, Roman Catholicism) abbot, prior (high-ranking member of a monastery)
    Synonyms: opat, przeor
* (obsolete, Roman Catholicism) minister (assistant in a Jesuit cloister)
* (obsolete, Roman Catholicism) head of a Franciscan cloister
* (government, obsolete) official (person who works in government)
    Synonym: oficjalista
* (Middle Polish, biblical, expressive, paganism) priest of pagan cults
* (Middle Polish, Roman Catholicism, derogatory, ironic) heretical priest; supporter of heresy
* (Middle Polish, Roman Catholicism) Catholic preacher
* (Middle Polish) steward (chief administrator of a medieval manor)
    Synonyms: klucznik, szafarz, włodarz

#### Declension
### Noun

minister f (indeclinable)
* (government) female equivalent of minister (“minister”)

#### Derived terms

* ministerialny
* ministerski
* minister bez teki
* ministerstwo
* prezes Rady Ministrów
* Rada Ministrów

#### Related terms

* ministerialnie
* ministerium

### Trivia

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), minister is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 6 times in scientific texts, 213 times in news, 30 times in essays, 2 times in fiction, and 9 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 260 times, making it the 201st most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.

### References

* ↑ Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “minister”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
* ↑ Ida Kurcz (1990) “minister”, in Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej [Frequency dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), volume 1, Kraków, Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Języka Polskiego, page 149

### Further reading

* minister in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
* minister in Polish dictionaries at PWN
* Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “minister”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
* “MINISTER”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 06.03.2013
* Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “minister”, in Słownik języka polskiego
* Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “minister”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
* J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1902), “minister”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 2, Warsaw, page 990

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French ministère.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

minister n (plural ministere)
* ministry

#### Related terms

* ministru

## Silesian
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish minister.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /miˈɲis.tɛr/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -istɛr
* Syllabification: mi‧nis‧ter

### Noun

minister m pers (related adjective ministeryjalny)
* (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

#### Related terms

* ministeryjŏ

### Further reading

* minister in silling.org

## Swedish
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

minister c
* (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)
* a minister (in the foreign affairs administration)

#### Derived terms

* arbetsmarknadsminister
* barnminister
* biståndsminister
* bostadsminister
* civilminister
* demokratiminister
* energiminister
* EU-minister
* fackminister
* finansmarknadsminister
* finansminister
* folkhälsominister
* försvarsminister
* gymnasieminister
* handelsminister
* idrottsminister
* infrastrukturminister
* innovationsminister
* inrikesminister
* integrationsminister
* it-minister
* jordbruksminister
* justitieminister
* jämställdhetsminister
* klimatminister
* konsumentminister
* kulturminister
* kunskapslyftsminister
* landsbygdsminister
* migrationsminister
* miljöminister
* ministerlista
* ministermöte
* ministerportfölj
* ministerpost
* ministerpresident
* ministerråd
* ministerstyre
* ministertaburett
* näringsminister
* premiärminister
* rolighetsminister
* samarbetsminister
* sjukvårdsminister
* skuggminister
* socialförsäkringsminister
* socialminister
* stadsutvecklingsminister
* statsminister
* utbildningsminister
* utrikesminister
* äldreminister

#### Related terms

* ministeriell
* ministerium
* ministär

### Further reading

* minister in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker
* minister in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)
* Utrikes namnbok (12th ed., 2024)

## West Frisian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French ministre.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /miˈnɪstər/, /məˈnɪstər/

### Noun

minister c (plural ministers)
* (government) minister (a politician who heads a ministry)

#### Derived terms

* minister-presidint

#### Further reading

* “minister”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011