| 释义 |
▪ I. minister, n.|ˈmɪnɪstə(r)|
Forms: 3–6 ministre, 4 minystre, mynystyr, mynystere, mynistere, minster, 4–6 mynyster, -ister, -istre, 5 minstre, mynestre, -ter, mynstre, minestre, mynnyster, Sc. mynistir, 4– minister.
[a. OF. menestre, ministre, a. L. minister servant, f. *minis-, minus less, parallel in formation to the correlative magister master n., f. magis more. Cf. Sp., Pg., It. ministro, G. minister.]
1.
†a. A servant, attendant. Obs.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxii. (Laurentius) 121 Fadyr, quhare gais þu bot minsteris? a1500Chaucer's Dreme 2132 With ladyes, knightes, and squieres, And a grete ost of ministeres, With instrumentes and sounes diverse. 1513Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 1728 The mynysters were redy theyr offyce to fulfyll To take vp the tables at theyr lordes wyll. 1572Sir T. Smith in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. III. 15 Scarcely the ministers cowld have rowme to bring the meate or the drinck to the table. 1611Bible 2 Kings vi. 15 When the servant [marg. minister] of the man of God was risen early. 1612Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 406 Let the Surgeon have at hand at the least two or three ministers or servants besides himself, to assist him in the work. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xxxi. III. 206 A multitude of cooks, and inferior ministers, employed in the service of the kitchens.
b. One who waits upon, or ministers to the wants of another. arch.
1818Byron Ch. Har. iv. clxxvii, Oh! that the Desert were my dwelling-place, With one fair Spirit for my minister. 1868FitzGerald tr. Omar lv, And lose your fingers in the tresses of The Cypress-slender Minister of Wine.
2. a. One who acts under the authority of another; one who carries out executive duties as the agent or representative of a superior. Now rare.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 301/65 Godes ministres aungles beoth, seint Miȝhel and oþere mo. c1327Rolls of Parlt. II. 430 His writings and other goods, &c., arrested by the King's ministers. 1390Gower Conf. I. 61 Pride..hath with him in special Ministres five ful diverse, Of whiche,..The ferste is seid Ypocrisie. c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 2535 If þe ministres do naght but iustice To poore peple, in contre as þei go, Thogh þe Kyng be vniust, yit is his vice Hid to þe peple. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 339 Iosue, the minister of Moyses, rewlede the peple of Israel. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 139 b, The goostly ennemy our olde aduersary & all his mynysters put to flyght & confusyon. 1535Coverdale Rom. xiii. 6 He is the minister of God for thy wealth. c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. ciii. xii, Spirits of might,..You ministers that willing work his will..His praise extoll. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. ii. 34 O Warre, thou sonne of hell, Whom angry heauens do make their minister. 1628Coke On Litt. 147 The Kings Baily should be but his Minister to distreine for his rent. 1667Milton P.L. v. 460 His wary speech Thus to th' Empyreal Minister he fram'd. 1681–6J. Scott Chr. Life (1747) III. 314 The first and supreme Minister by which Christ rules his Kingdom is the Holy Ghost. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 81 ⁋6 The community, of which the magistrate is only the minister.
b. Const. of: One who is employed by another to carry into effect (a purpose or intention) or to convey (a gift, etc.). Also transf. of things. Obs. exc. as coloured by religious use.
c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 18 Jesus Crist dide more miracle, and bad hise disciples serve þe puple at þe mete, to teche us þat we ben mynystris and not autouris of miracle. c1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 747 Al to symple is my tonge to pronounce As Ministre of my wit, the doublenesse Of this Chanon. 1580Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 354 Philautus determined, hab, nab, to sende his letters,..and..he thus beganne to frame the minister of his loue. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 355 For a minister of my intent, I haue seduc'd a head-strong Kentishman. 1720Ozell tr. Vertot's Rom. Rep. II. xii. 215 Catiline..had been the Minister of the Cruelties of Sylla. 1722Wollaston Relig. Nat. ix. 186 Why doth the scene of thinking lie in our heads, and all the ministers of sensation make their reports to something there. 1784Cowper Task v. 816 Those fair ministers of light to man That fill the skies. 1866Liddon Bampton Lect. vi. (1875) 321 The Angels are ministers of the Divine Will.
†c. An officer entrusted with the administration of the law, or attached to a court of justice. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 223, I crye out on the Ministres quod he That sholden kepe and reulen this Citee. c1450Godstow Reg. 149 Vndurshreuys, or oþer ballyfs or mynysters what-so-euer they be. 1483Anc. Cal. Rec. Dublin (1889) I. 303 The clerkys and mynnysters of the courte of Tolsyll. 1526Tindale Matt. v. 25 Lest..the iudge delivre the to the minister. 1538Starkey England i. iii. 83 Gud mynystrys of justyce are to few. 1723Royal Proclam. in Lond. Gaz. No. 6135/3 Before the next Magistrate or Minister of Justice.
†d. An officer subordinate to another, an underling. Obs.
1442Rolls of Parlt. V. 54/2 Custumers..have diverse persones to be here Clerkes, Deputees and Ministres in here seide Offices. 1601Ld. Mountjoy in Moryson's Itin. ii. (1617) 174 It grieveth me to see her Majesty so ill served in her Musters,..for all the Ministers in that kind, are but ciphers or false numbers. 1602Ibid. 256 Errours of subordinate Ministers in these matters of accompts and reckonings. 1625Glanville Voy. Cadiz (1883) 29 The Captaine is to give them [his superior's commands] in charge to all other officers and ministers in the shipp.
3. A high officer of state.
a. A person appointed by the chief of a state to act for him in a particular department of government; one entrusted with the administration of a department of state; a minister or secretary of state, as minister † at (now for, of) war, minister for foreign affairs, etc. † first minister, the same as prime minister. † premier, prime minister, see the adjs.
In plural often without article = the Ministry, the members of the Government.
1625Bacon Ess., Envy (Arb.) 516 This publique Enuy, seemeth to beat chiefly, vpon principall Officers, or Ministers, rather then vpon Kings and Estates themselues. 1741Lords' Protest in Morley Walpole vii. (1889) 163 We are persuaded that a sole, or even a First Minister, is an officer unknown to the law of Britain. 1745Hardwicke in G. Harris Life (1847) II. 109, Chancellor... Your Ministers, sir, are only your instruments of government. King—(smiles)—Ministers are the King, in this country. 1795A. Seward Lett. (1811) IV. 140, I blame ministers for such an evident waste of English blood and treasure. 1803Ld. Melville in Morley Walpole vii. (1889) 162 That power must rest in the person generally called the First Minister, and that minister ought, he [sc. Pitt] thinks, to be the person at the head of the finances. 1805Jefferson Writ. (1850) IV. 45 That there is only one minister who is not opposed to me, is totally unfounded. 1836Dickens Sk. Boz, Tales ii, Well, Brogson, what do Ministers mean to do? Will they go out or what? 1838Greville Mem. ii. (1885) I. 87 In the first place the Colonial Minister should have made some arrangement [etc.]. 1843Borrow Bible in Spain xiii, Isturitz became head of the cabinet, Galiano minister of marine, and a certain Duke of Rivas minister of the interior. 1868G. Duff Pol. Surv. 16 The King..immediately dismissed his Ministers. 1877D. M. Wallace Russia (ed. 2) I. 315 The Procureur..is directly subordinated to the Minister of Justice. Ibid. 322 The Minister for Foreign Affairs explained that [etc.].
b. A political agent accredited by one sovereign state to another; an envoy from one country to another charged with the duty of protecting and furthering the interests of the state by which he is accredited.
1709Lond. Gaz. No. 4547/1 He received the compliments of the Foreign Ministers residing here. 1711Swift Jrnl. to Stella 5 Dec., The Elector of Hanover's Minister here has given in a violent memorial against the peace. 1789Const. U.S. ii. §3 The president..shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers. 1860Malmesbury Mem. Ex-Minister (1884) II. 234 In consequence of this violent act of invading Romagna, Louis Napoleon has recalled his Minister from Turin, leaving a chargé d'affaires. 1880W. Cory Mod. Eng. Hist. I. 158 note, The term Minister is applied..to an envoy residing in a foreign capital.
c. Minister of State, a government minister, now usu. regarded in the U.K. as holding a rank below that of a head of department; Minister of the Crown, a minister or the head of a department in the U.K. government (see also quot. 1946); Minister without Portfolio, a government minister who has Cabinet status but is not in charge of a specific Department of State.
1696Phillips, Minister of State, is one upon whom a Prince reposes the Administration of his Kingdom. 1735Bolingbroke Diss. upon Parties (ed. 2) p. xxv, But This will not become a Matter of State, though you are a Minister of State. 1864Salisbury in Q. Rev. CXVI. 253 Ministers of State are case-hardened by practice. 1950W. S. Churchill in Hansard Commons 31 Oct. 16, I like to see this reverence and respect for the past and all we owe to those who have gone before, and to see Ministers of State shake themselves clear from the obsession into which they fall from time to time. 1957Act 5 & 6 Eliz. II c. 20 §13 ‘Minister of State’ means a member of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom..who neither has charge of any public department nor holds any other of the offices specified in the Second Schedule to this Act. 1958A. Chanda Indian Administration iii. i. 64 The appointment of Ministers of State to take charge of independent portfolios was an innovation [in India]... In France, a Minister of State ranked higher than a Minister and was usually entrusted with some special functions. In the UK, a Minister of State was, however, a minister of the second rank, functioning as the principal aide to a Cabinet Minister. 1963Harvey & Bather Brit. Constitution xv. 251 When the work is particularly heavy or involved, or when it entails frequent visits abroad, Ministers of State, who act as deputy ministers, may be appointed. 1970J. Harvey How Brit. is Governed xii. 147 In departments where the work is particularly heavy, the present-day practice is to appoint Ministers of State who virtually act on behalf of the minister.
1776J. Hatsell Coll. Cases Priuilege Parl. v. 196 The increase of their consequence in the state, and their influence in the management of public affairs, rendered them more an object of the attention of the Ministers of the Crown. 1844Erskine May Law of Parl. xvii. 262 Another form of communication from the Crown to either house of Parliament, is in the nature of a verbal message, delivered, by command, by a minister of the Crown to the house of which he is a member. 1848Disraeli in Hansard Commons 20 June 961 Surely, the people of this country are not accustomed to wait to express their opinion, till it may chance to be elicited by some captious expression of a Minister of the Crown. 1892W. R. Anson Law & Custom of Constitution II. i. 10 The present dependence of the Ministers of the Crown, for their existence as a Ministry, upon the maintenance of a majority in the House of Commons. 1937Act 1 Edw. VIII & 1 Geo. VI c. 38 §3 If and so long as any Minister of the Crown to whom this section applies is a member of the Cabinet. 1946Act 9 & 10 Geo. VI c. 31 §8 (2) ‘Minister of the Crown’ means the holder of an office in His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, and includes the Treasury, the Admiralty, the Board of Trade, the Army Council, and the Air Council. 1956Abraham & Hawtrey Parl. Dict. 113 Ministers of the Crown... In its widest sense..it means any member of the Government, of whatever rank (this does not, of course, include parliamentary private secretaries, who have no official status at all). 1975Listener 7 Aug. 183/1 A speech by a Minister of the Crown.
1915Hansard Commons LXXII. p. iv, Minister without Portfolio—Rt. Hon. the Marquess of Lansdowne, K.G. 1921H. H. Asquith in Ibid. 23 June 1630, I was the first Prime Minister in modern times during the last half-century or more, to have in his cabinet a Minister Without Portfolio. 1954Ld. Templewood Nine Troubled Yrs. x. 136 The Law Officers at once intervened to say that a Minister with a special Portfolio could not be a Minister without Portfolio. 1955Times 30 June 8/5 M. Nguyen Huu Chau, Minister without portfolio in the Government of southern Viet Nam. Ibid. 18 July 8/3 The Bishop of Derby will open a debate on mining subsidence in the House of Lords on Wednesday, when the Government's views will be put forward by Lord Munster, Minister without Portfolio.
4. Ecclesiastical and religious uses.
a. In Pre-Reformation English, applied to a person in orders officially charged with some function in the celebration of worship in a particular church, chapel, chantry, etc. In the rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer the word denotes the clergyman, or any of a number of clergymen, engaged in conducting worship on a particular occasion.
c1315Shoreham i. 1539 Ȝef her nys suiche mynystre non, Þys temple stent iuere. 1482Rolls of Parlt. VI. 209/2 The noumbre of ministres daily servyng Almyghty God in the seid Chapell. 1501in Bury Wills (Camden) 89, I beqwethe to the vicars and to the chawntery prestys..to eche of them vj. d. and to mynysters and queresteres after the rate. 1549Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion, Then shall this generall confession bee made, in the name of all those that are minded to receyue the holy Communion, eyther by one of them, or els by one of the ministers, or by the Prieste hymselfe. 1662Ibid., When all have communicated, the Minister shall return to the Lord's Table... Then shall the Priest say the Lord's Prayer.
b. In phrases such as minister of the church, minister of the gospel, and the scriptural phrases minister of God, minister of Jesus Christ, minister of the sanctuary, applied as general designations for a person officially charged with spiritual functions in the Christian Church. Hence from the 16th c. onwards (after the example of foreign Protestant, esp. Calvinistic, use) employed absol. in the same sense, at first chiefly by those who objected to the terms priest and clergyman as implying erroneous views of the nature of the sacred office. The use of minister as the designation of an Anglican clergyman (formerly extensively current, sometimes with more specific application to a beneficed clergyman) has latterly become rare, and is now chiefly associated with Low Church views; but it is still the ordinary appellation of one appointed to spiritual office in any non-episcopal communion, esp. of one having a pastoral charge. The term minister of religion, as applied to a ‘clergyman’ or ‘minister’ of any religious denomination, is common in official use.
minister's man: in Scotland, a man who acts as personal servant to a parish minister, and is employed by him in various offices connected with the church and parish.
1340Ayenb. 236 Þe gerdel huermide þe ministres of holy cherche ssolle ham gerde ope þe lenden is chastete. 1485Caxton Chas. Gt. 196 The bysshop wyth other mynystres of the chyrche dyd halowe the fonte. 1560–1Machyn Diary (Camden) 249 Parson Veron the Frenche man dyd pryche ther, for he was parson ther, and ys menyster. 1583Stubbes Anat. Abuses ii. (1882) 106 Such [names] as at anie hande a Minister of the Gospell ought not to bee called by. 1590Articles agst. Cartwright in Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. vii. 198 We do object..against him, that he, being a Minister (at least a Deacon) lawfully called,..hath forsaken,..and renounced the same orders Ecclesiastical. Ibid. 199 The manner of Ordination of Bishops, Ministers and Deacons. 1609B. Jonson Sil. Wom. ii. v, Get me a minister presently, with a soft low voice to marry vs. 1641J. Trappe Theol. Theol. 253 A Minister, if any man, had need to bee godly. 1678Wanley Wond. Lit. World v. iii. §8. 474/1 Sixtus [I]..ordered that holy things and vessels should be touched by none but Ministers. 1698J. Collier Immor. Stage 137 To make the Ministers of Religion less upon the score of their Function, would be a Penalty on the Gospel. 1704Nelson Fest. & Fasts ii. iii. (1705) 395 Bishops..only have Authority to send Ministers into the Lord's Vineyard. 1722De Foe Relig. Courtsh. i. 13 Ministers are but Men. 1726Ayliffe Parergon 71 Tho' the word Minister sometimes denotes an Office, as that of a Priest or Deacon; and sometimes it is put for a Rector of a Parish. 1727Swift What passed in London Wks. 1755 III. i. 187 The like might be observed in all sorts of ministers though not of the church of England. 1813–15Proc. Ch. Miss. Soc. IV. 338 The minister of the Gospel ought not to be left alone among a heathen people. 1833Tracts for Times No. 11. 12 The minister of the Independent chapel. 1837Lockhart Scott vii. (1839) 48/1 Macdonald..then officiated as minister to a small congregation of Episcopalian nonconformists. 1867Geo. Eliot in Cross Life III. 5 Renan's appearance is something between the Catholic priest and the dissenting minister. 1901Scotsman 29 Mar. 6/8 Everyone..was..familiar with the duties which a minister's man had to perform.
Comb.1589R. Harvey Pl. Perc. (1590) 17 How dare these fellowes aspire to further authoritie in Minister-making.
c. Applied to non-Christian religious functionaries. Obs. exc. occas. with reference to Jews.
c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xix. 87 Þe mynisters þat kepez þat ilk mawmet. Ibid. xxxiv. 153 Þe prestez and ministres of ydoles er obedient to him. 1582N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. vii. 18 A white Moore which was a Minister of the Moores of Mousambicke. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 164 One of their Ministers goes along with the Man that carries the Child; and when they are come to the River-side the Minister says these words [etc.]. 1770Langhorne Plutarch (1879) I. 166/2 The priests and ministers of the gods.
d. The title of the superior of certain religious orders; also minister general. In the Society of Jesus, each of the five assistants of the general.
1450Rolls of Parlt. V. 195/2 Nicholas, nowe Maistir or Minister of the ordre of Seynt Gilbert of Sempyngham. c1470Henry Wallace ii. 289 Thomas Rimour in to the Faile [sc. monastery] was than, With the mynystir, quhilk was a worthi man. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v., Minister is also the title which certain religious orders give to their superior. In this sense we say, the minister of the Mathurins, or Trinitarians. Minister, among the Jesuits, is the second superior of each house. The general of the Cordeliers order is also called the minister general. 1884Catholic Dict. (1885) 580/1 Minister, among the Franciscans and Capuchins the head of the order is the minister-general... Again, the general of the Society of Jesus has five assistants, called ministers, who are elected by the general congregation.
†e. An assistant clergyman, curate (an application of sense 2 d). Obs.
1624in Ripon Ch. Acts (Surtees) 364 To Mr. Thompson, my minister at Dighton, 40s. To Mr. Beilbe, now vicar of Pately Bridge, which was my minister at Dightonn, one whole suite of my workeday apparell.
†5. Law. An executor of a will; an administrator of an estate. Obs.
1433Rolls of Parlt. IV. 472/1 That he be not..greved by the Kyng, nor his heirs, nor his Ministres in tyme to come. 1463in Somerset Medieval Wills (1901) 197 My trieu executors, feoffees and ministers, as they wille answere afore God. 1546in Trans. Cumb. & Westm. Archæol. Soc. X. 26, I gif to Godfray muncastor j quy by the Discrecion of my mynistour.
†6. One who administers (medicine). Obs.
1559Morwyng Evonym. Advert., Without any great profit to the pacient or worship to the minister, because their medicines are negligently prepared.
7. U.S. The catfish, Amiurus nebulosus. = horned pout (horned a. 2 b).[From sense 4 b: see quot. 1872.] 1839D. H. Storer in Storer & Peabody Rep. Fishes, Reptiles & Birds Mass. 102 The Horned Pout..is known in the interior of the state by the vulgar names of ‘Horn pout’, and ‘Minister’. 1849Thoreau Week Concord Riv. 34 The Horned Pout..[is] sometimes called Minister. 1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 382 A species [of the Catfish] is known also as Mudpout,..and irreverently, from its black color perhaps, as Minister. 1884G. B. Goode Fisheries U.S.: Nat. Hist. Aquatic Animals 628 The common ‘Horned Pout’, ‘Bullhead’, ‘Bull-pout’, or ‘Minister’ of the Northern and Eastern States is the most generally abundant and familiar representative of this family [sc. Siluridæ].
▪ II. minister, v.|ˈmɪnɪstə(r)|
Forms: see prec. n.
[a. OF. ministrer, ad. L. ministrāre, f. minister minister n. Cf. Sp., Pg. ministrar, It. ministrare.]
I. Transitive uses.
†1. To serve (food or drink). Obs.
13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 644 Abraham..Mynystred mete byfore þo men þat myȝtes alweldez. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 3286 Off that foode..He Gaff to etyn to hem alle Thys newe mete most vnkouth, Mynystryng yt in-to ther mouth. c1440Gesta Rom. lxx. 322 (Harl. MS.) Euery day he mynystrid to þe Emperour of drynke. 1662H. Stubbe Ind. Nectar ii. 10 Chocolatte..which they minister in great cups of above a pint.
2. To furnish, supply, impart (something necessary or helpful). Now only (arch. or literary) with immaterial object.
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 377 Bi occasion of grace of god mynystred to eny creature. 1390Gower Conf. III. 119 His Monthe assigned ek also Is Averil, which of his schoures Ministreth weie unto the floures. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) vii. 23 Þai hafe na moisture bot þat þe forsaid ryuer ministers. c1450Mirour Saluacioun 4206 To whame so salutere techinges he mynystres so freely. 1517R. Torkington Pilgr. (1884) 40 The lyght ys ther mynystred by many lampes. 1533Princess Mary in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. II. 30 Ye thereyn shulde mynestre unto me veraye acceptable pleasor. 1535Goodly Primer (1834) 33 He that doth minister house, license, place, time, or help, to the works of this abominable lust. 1553Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 33 The sea also ministred vnto them great abundaunce of shelfishe. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. i. vi. §16 They minister a singuler helpe and preseruative against vnbeleefe and error. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 90 How great a quantity soeuer [sc. of glassie sand] is by ships carried thence, is supplied by the Winds, which minister new sands. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. lxxix. 320 We were thus ministring matter for the company to laugh at us. 1742Young Nt. Th. viii. 598 Wisdom,..Was meant to minister, and not to mar, Imperial pleasure. 1862Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. xvi. 317 The story..was able to minister true consolation. a1872Maurice Friendship Bks. iii. (1874) 83 The wisdom and consolation which it [learning] ministered to the common wayfarer.
†b. To communicate, make known. Obs.
1535–6Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 63 (Deputy's oath) Yf any defaulte ye fynde therein ye shall mynyster and shewe it unto theym.
†c. To prompt, suggest. In quot. absol. Obs.
1603Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. v. 6 Sometimes you doe blench from this to that As cause doth minister.
†3. To dispense, administer (a sacrament, the ‘elements’ or the like). Obs.
c1400Lay Folks Mass Bk. App. iii. 123 To ministre þis moste worschipeful sacramente. 1510–20Everyman 742 Thou mynystres all the sacramentes seuen. 1549Bk. Com. Prayer, Commun. 118 b, As y⊇ prist ministreth the Sacrament of the body, so shal he [sc. the deacon]..minister y⊇ Sacrament of the bloud. 1637Sc. Prayer Bk., Confirmation (Rubric), It was ordained that confirmation should be ministred to them that were of perfect age. 1816J. Wilson City of Plague iii. i. 197 'Tis but two nights ago I thither went To minister the sacrament.
4. To apply or administer (something healing); also absol. and fig. ? Obs.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. lix. (1495) 275 Agaynst the Canker men shall mynistre medycynes whyche brennen and frete the deed flesshe. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 1540 For they mynystre ther oynement To boystously, & no thing soffte. 1484Caxton Fables of Poge x, [He] mynistyred alwey his pylles to euery man that came to hym for ony remedy. 1542–3Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 8 An Acte that persones being no comen Surgeons maie mynistre medicines owtwarde. 1590P. Barrough Meth. Physick i. v. (1639) 8 If the patient be any thing costive, you may minister this decoction. 1619Fletcher M. Thomas iii. i, Such a Physicke May chance to find the humour: be not long Lady, For we must minister within this halfe houre. 1680Otway Orphan i. i, As calmly as the wounded Patient bears The Artist's hand that Ministers his Cure.
†5. To execute or dispense (justice, law); to administer (punishment). Obs.
1454Rolls of Parlt. V. 239/2 After the cours of lawe to mynystre justice. 1467–8Ibid. 622/2 This Londe was full naked and bareyn of Justice, the Peas not kepte, nor Lawes duely mynystred within the same. c1550Bale K. Johan (Camden) 52 Her custome ys to mynyster ponyshment To kynges and princes beyng dyssobedyent. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. ii. 169 Justice and æquitie he ministerit amang his awne wt gret commendatione.
†6. Law. To administer (an interrogatory, oath or the like). Obs.
1425Rolls of Parlt. IV. 271/1, I ynne his name, shall answer to ye boke last mynystred by ye partie of my Lord Mareschall, and synglerly to each article yrof. a1541Wyatt Defence Wks. (1861) p. xxx, What they mean by denying of this: minister interrogatories. Let them have such thirty-eight as were ministered unto me. 1562Act 5 Eliz. c. 1 §5 Every Archebushopp..shall have full power..to tender and minister the Othe. a1631Donne Serm. viii. 84 Is he not thy Father? is an Interrogatory ministered by Moses. 1722De Foe Plague (1756) 46 To minister unto them Oaths for the Performance of their Offices.
†7. To guide, direct, manage (affairs, etc.). Obs.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. iii. met. vi. 61 (Camb. MS.) On allone is fadyr of thynges. On allone mynystreth alle thinges. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 391 And ȝitt þai claymen so ferforþli þes tiþis, þat no man lawfully may wiþ-holde hem or minystre hem save þai. 1492in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 323 They that ony maters shall have in courte to be mynstred. 1540–1Elyot Image Gov. (1549) 104 A counsaile, wherby the affaires of the citee..shoulde be ruled and ministred.
†b. To execute the duties of (an office). Obs.
1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 284 b, That he had in suche wyse executed & ministred y⊇ office of a capitaine that [etc.].
II. Intransitive uses.
8. To serve, wait at table; to attend to the comfort or wants of another; to render aid or tendance. Const. to, unto, † for (a person, his wants); also † dat. of person.
c1380Antecrist in Todd 3 Treat. Wyclif 124 He þat mynystriþ me folowe he me seiþ Crist. 1382Wyclif Luke xxii. 27 Forwhi who is the more, he that restith, other he that mynistrith? 1388― Isa. lx. 10 The kyngis of hem schulen mynystre to thee. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xix. 97 Maidenes and marteres ministred hym her in erthe. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 353 The peple of Israel ministrede [orig. servivit] to Eglon the fatte kynge of Moab. 1509Fisher Funeral Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. (1876) 297 In theyr sykenes..mynystrynge vnto them with her owne handes. 1611Bible Mark x. 45 The Sonne of man came not to bee ministred vnto, but to minister. 1667Milton P.L. v. 444 Mean while at Table Eve Ministerd naked. 1732Law Serious C. v. (ed. 2) 69 To assist, protect, and minister for them who shall be heirs of Salvation. 1816J. Wilson City of Plague ii. iv. 131 For these three months, Hath she been ministering at the dying bed. 1866G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xvii. (1878) 342 Add to your kindness this day, by letting my wife and me minister to you.
9. To serve or officiate in worship; to act as a minister of the Church.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 80 Þei ordeynd a couent, to ministre in þat kirke. c1400Apol. Loll. 11 If minstris of þe kirke wele not frely minster to hem þat þei [schuld?] frely minster to, not but if mony or oþer þing be ȝeuen to hem. 1521Bp. Longland in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. I. 252, I mynystred as my weykenes wold serve, in pontificalibus. 1563–83Foxe A. & M. II. 1613/2 Such Byshops as Minister not, but Lord it. 1672–5T. Comber Comp. Temple (1702) 53 While he that Ministred repeated this Office, all present were to joyn with him. 1710Prideaux Orig. Tithes ii. 86 Who then Ministred in holy things. 1855Milman Lat. Chr. (1864) xiv. vi. IX. 213 The Teutons..were compelled to possess one qualification, the power of ministering in that Latin Service.
10. To be helpful or serviceable; also, to be conducive, contribute to something.
1696Whiston Theory Earth iv. (1722) 332 The Waters..were so dispos'd as to minister to his Necessities. 1711–12Smalridge 12 Serm. (1717) 343 Fasting is not Absolutely..Good, but Relatively, and as it ministers to Other Virtues. 1831Lytton Godolphin 3, I ministered to their amusement. 1850McCosh Div. Govt. ii. i. (1874) 137 The useful..ministers to the love of the beautiful.
Hence ˈministered ppl. a.
c1425Found. St. Bartholomew's (E.E.T.S.) 31 Plenty of mynystryd grace from God.
▪ III. minister
obs. form of minster. |