rectorn.
/ˈrɛktə/, U.S. /ˈrɛktər/ 1. † c. A chief confessor. Obsolete. rare.
a. Originally: an incumbent of a pre-Reformation or Church of England parish where the tithes were retained by the incumbent (cf. vicar n. 2a) (now historical); (later) the incumbent of a parish where this was formerly the case. Now also: (Anglican Church) a member of the clergy who has charge of a parish; (also) the leader of a team ministry.In the Episcopal Church of the United States: a member of the clergy in charge of a self-supporting parish, as opposed to a parish supported and governed by the diocese.lay rector: see lay adj. and n.9 Compounds 1.
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society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > rector > [noun]
parsonc1275
rectora1325
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > priest > kinds of priest > [noun] > parish priest
parish priest1318
papas1591
parochian1621
curé1655
pope1662
paroecian1725
P.P.1819
parochial1853
parroco1866
rector1898
paroch1900
a1325 Statutes of Realm (2011) xx. 79 Ȝif prelat ipresented to ani churche askez of þe rectour þe pencion þat is to him owinde.
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. iii. 184 (MED) Ich my-self cyuyle and symonye my felawe Wollen ryden vp-on rectours.
1447 Acct. in Berks, Bucks & Oxon Archæol. Jrnl. (1905) 11 56 (MED) Item, A large Portiforme of ye gyfte of..my lord Wakeryng Bisshoppe of Norwyche, some tyme Rector of ye forsaid chyrche.
1556 W. Lauder Compend. Tractate Dewtie of Kyngis sig. B4 Fer les rent Nor hes sum Vicare, for his waige Or Rector, for his Rectoraige.
a1600 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie vii. xiii, in Wks. (1662) 31 The Bishops..in the time of the Primitive Church, all such as Parsons or Rectors of Parishes are with us?
1620 N. Brent tr. P. Sarpi Hist. Councel of Trent ii. 251 The superiour did recommend the vacant Church, to some honest and worthy man, to gouerne it..vntil a Rector were prouided.
1709 J. Strype Ann. Reformation xxv. 253 Thomas Morrison, Rector of Henly upon Thames..was sequestred.
1726 J. Ayliffe Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani 285 Where the Vicar leases his Glebe, the Tenant must pay the great Tithes to the Rector or Impropriator.
1791 Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 20/1 The Whitfieldians railed at rector, curate, doctrine, service, &c. &c. all in the lump.
1818 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. (ed. 2) III. 58 Payment of tithes to the rector is a sufficient discharge against the vicar; because all tithes of common right belong to the rector.
1866 ‘G. Eliot’ Felix Holt I. ii. 58 The Rector was helped to this chain of reasoning by Harold's remarks.
1898 E. N. Westcott David Harum xxxii. 278 Our friend's acquaintance with the rector of St. James's church had grown into something like friendship.
1912 G. O. Trevelyan George III & Charles Fox II. xi. 32 The smaller tenants of Ulster..had waged a vigorous tithe-war against..rabbling rectors and vicars.
1972 Daily Tel. 7 Aug. 10/5 Only the leader of the team, usually called ‘Rector’, is the beneficed freehold incumbent.
2004 Church Times 3 Sept. 5/1 Bishop Bruno has inhibited the rectors and clergy of the three parishes, which include St David's North Hollywood, and has warned them that they face unfrocking.
b. Roman Catholic Church. The head of a community or seminary (esp. a Jesuit one).
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society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious superior > conventual head > [noun]
presidentc1410
superior1496
sovereign1534
rector1601
Father Superior1612
1601 T. Bluet Important Considerations 35 He is Rector of the English Seminarie in Rome.
1731 J.-B. Girard (title) The defence of F. John Baptist Girard, Jesuit, and Rector of the Royal Seminary of Chaplains of the navy in the city of Toulon.
1834 tr. C. Spindler Jesuit xviii. 317 ‘Refuse to obey me!’ cried the rector, ‘and I will pass sentence of excommunication.’
2002 B. Danson Not Bad for Sergeant iv. 197 Father Lionel Stanford was rector of Regis College, a Jesuit seminary.
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1670 G. Havers tr. G. Leti Il Cardinalismo di Santa Chiesa i. iii. 90 Amongst these Fathers, there are some that confess people in divers Languages, and one of them in each Church has the Title of Rector [It. Rettore].
d. = missionary rector n. at missionary n. and adj. Compounds.
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society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > priest > kinds of priest > [noun] > Roman Catholic
Pope's Knight?1548
missary1550
popeling1563
greasling1583
Don1600
ointlinga1603
black gown1616
Dom1716
rector1908
1908 J. W. Jordan Pittsburg & her People III. 445 Reverend Father D. J. Malady, rector of Holy Rosary parish, Homewood, officiating.
1927 Catholic Times 11 Feb. 21/2 In 1901 he became rector of St. Joseph's, Birkenhead.
1968 Jet 12 Dec. 30 Father Raymond Ellis, Rector of St. Cecilia's Roman Catholic Church, on defending a painting featuring a black Christ.
2. † b. The queen bee of a hive. Cf. king n. 9a. Obsolete. rare.
a. The ruler or governor of a nation, state, city, etc. In later use esp.: the governor of a territory of the Papal States; (also) the chief magistrate of an Italian republic. Chiefly (now only) historical.
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society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > [noun] > specifically of a country
rectora1387
governanta1460
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 55 (MED) From Eneas to..Romulus Italy was vnder fiftene rectoures.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 179 Eolus..was Rector of þe Ilondes þat hatte Eole.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1874) V. 363 Þeke yle was wonte to have a rector..to whom alle the province were subiecte.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iii. 46 Priamus, thee Troian rector vnhappye.
1616 W. Lithgow Most Delectable Disc. Peregrination (rev. ed.) 35 It was told me by the Rector of Candy, that they may raise in Armes of the inhabitants..aboue sixtie thousand men.
1685 H. More Paralipomena Prophetica 111 Quirinius made Caius his Rectour till his Recuperation of Armenia.
1769 T. Smollett Present State All Nations V. 363 Ragusa is a small republic... The chief magistrate is stiled rector.
1832 J.-C.-L. S. de Sismondi Hist. Ital. Republics xi. 245 The judicial power was still exercised by two or three rectors, aliens to the state.
1843 Penny Cycl. XXV. 13/2 The city of Rome secured the right of sending to Tibur a count, rector, or podestà, as political magistrate.
1909 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 23 274 Direct taxes were levied in the form of procurations paid by cities, castles, and lords on the arrival of a new rector.
1952 D. Waley Mediaeval Orvieto i. 10 In Orvieto, as elsewhere, in the late twelfth century a Rector was chosen in some years, while in others the consulate was the supreme authority.
2003 A. W. Lewin Negotiating Survival v. 131 Ladislaus..had Innocent appoint his ally as rector in Campania and Marittima.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > queen bee
kinga1398
rectora1398
king bee1565
master bee1579
prince1609
queen1609
queen bee1609
queen mother1753
mother queen1817
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 144 Ȝif þe rectour is onlyue, þe males beþ in on partye and þe femals in an oþir partye.
c. A person who or thing which has supreme control in any sphere. rare after 17th cent.
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society > authority > control > person in control > [noun] > director
mastereOE
steerc897
ordainerc1443
director1477
rector1482
sayer1483
orderer1496
solicitera1530
temperator1591
ordinator1615
sternera1634
dirigent1756
chargé d'affaires1797
quarterback1931
1482 Monk of Evesham 90 Suche persons kyngys and bysshoppys and other grete men..not beyng rectors and faders, but peruersours and destroyers of her sowlys.
1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 417 Titus was chosen iudge, and rector of the games that were plaeid there [sc. at Argos].
1602 B. Jonson Poetaster v. ii. sig. K3v Reason (which in right should be The speciall Rector of all Harmony). View more context for this quotation
1644 J. Milton Areopagitica 17 Who shall be the rectors of our daily rioting?
a1652 R. Brome Novella iii. i. sig. K5, in Five New Playes (1653) We seeke to Art, (Nature's Rector) to restore Us, the strength we had before.
1835 I. Taylor Spiritual Despotism vi. 264 The imperial regenerator and rector of the Church.
1906 C. M. Doughty Dawn in Brit. IV. xv. 121 Rector of war-carts, kinsman of the queen, Is fallen young Brentyn.
d. God, as the ruler of the world. rare after 17th cent.
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the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > [noun] > as ruler
God almightyeOE
kingeOE
waldendeOE
almightyOE
heaven kingOE
dihtendec1200
rectora1513
omnipotent1562
almight?1580
Pantocrator1759
Goramighty1816
a1513 J. Irland Meroure of Wyssdome f. 287v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Recto(u)r God that is rectoure and gouernour of nature.
1582 Fovrth Psalme iv, in R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis 91 Our heunlye rectoure His sacred darling specialye choosed.
1627 M. Drayton Battaile Agincourt 32 This Herault from the Rector of the skies, In Vision warnes them not to vse delayes.
1676 M. Hale Contempl. Moral & Divine i. 229 The great dispenser or permitter and rector of all the events in the world.
1741 W. Warburton Divine Legation Moses II. iv. vi. §3 The supreme Rector of the Universe.
1752 J. Dickinson Lett. 7 If God be the Rector and Governour of the World, he must have some Laws to govern by.
1848 Gospel Herald 15 53 He is such, as the rector of the world, exercising the undoubted rights of a divine sovereignty.
1973 J. H. Hexter Vision of Politics on Eve of Reformation i. 8 The Vicars of Christ were diverted from work of their Heavenly Rector..by a somewhat excessive involvement in the temporal welfare of assorted Riarios, della Roveres, Borgias, and Medicis.
3. † d. Scottish. = regent n. 3b. Obsolete. rare.
a. The head of certain universities, colleges, or schools.In England now applied only to the head of certain institutions of higher education, as Exeter and Lincoln Colleges, Oxford, the Royal College of Art, the Imperial College of Science and Technology, etc., but still common in Scotland as the designation of the head teacher of certain secondary schools or academies.In quot. 1607 in extended use.
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society > education > educational administration > university administration > [noun] > head of college
master1389
rector1434
provost1442
president1448
head1550
head of house1570
sub-rector1629
skull1721
prex1828
prexy1871
society > education > teaching > teacher > schoolteacher or schoolmaster > [noun] > head teacher
rector1434
provost1442
headmaster1576
regent1583
gymnasiarch1682
headmistress1730
headteacher1758
principal1827
archididascalus1844
head1889
1434–5 in H. E. Salter Churchwardens' Accts. St. Michael's Oxf. (1933) 31 (MED) Item, resiue of the Rectur, mayster Wylliam Chamberlayn, one blew couerlytte.
1464 Rolls of Parl. V. 518/1 Provided..that neither this Acte..neither any other Acte..be hurtyng..to..Provost, Felawes and Scolers..Rector..of any College, Halle, Hospitall, Hous incorporate, or any other place.
1536 Act 27 Hen. VIII c. 42 §1 That the said acte..be not hurtfull..unto the said Maisters Presidentes Rectours Principalles..within the said Universities.
a1583 H. Gilbert in Queene Elizabethes Achademy (1869) 8 There shalbe one Rector of the said Achademy.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes Ep. Ded. sig. A3v The great Rectour or Chauncellor of all the Academyes in the world Iesus Christ,..the Maister of that Colledge wherein he was but a Seruant or Steward.
1691 Case of Exeter-Coll. 5 The Rector and Fellows were convinced in their Consciences of Mr. Colmer's guilt.
1766 T. Clap Ann. Yale-Coll. 11 The Trustees chose the Rev. Mr. Abraham Pierson..to take the Care of Instructing and Governing the Collegiate School; under the Title and Character of Rector.
1797 Encycl. Brit. VI. 315/2 [High School, Edinburgh.] The rector's place is supposed to be worth not less than 400l. per annum.
1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 278/1 The Edinburgh Academy..was founded in 1824, and consists of a rector and four other classical masters.
1883 Fortn. Rev. 39 34 Another Mertonian, John Tatham,..was elected Rector of Lincoln College.
1916 J. Joyce Portrait of Artist i. 59 All the fellows would make fun and talk about young Dedalus going up to the rector to tell on the prefect of studies.
1950 Chambers's Encycl. XIII. 658/2 [Sir H. T. Tizard] was..rector of the Imperial College of Science and Technology 1929–42.
1971 A. MacVicar Salt in my Porridge x. 124 David Lees was—and is—a live wire, owning perhaps the quickest intelligence of anybody I know. It was no surprise to me when he became Rector of the High School, Glasgow.
1991 Independent 1 Nov. 7/3 Peter Toyne, the polytechnic's rector, has already led Liverpool further towards full credit transfer..than any other British institution.
2011 Herald (Glasgow) 21 Feb. 22/1 A Glasgow-born rector's son, he became a teacher of English and History before following his father's footsteps to become a rector.
b. In the four medieval Scottish universities (St Andrews, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen), and later also at Dundee University: an elected holder of one of the higher offices of the university, (originally) subordinate only to the chancellor, (now) third in rank after the chancellor and vice chancellor.The precise role, term of office, etc., varies over time and between the universities. Since the Scottish Universities Acts of 1858 and 1889, the rector (more fully lord rector) is elected by matriculated students for a period of three years, and is appointed President (or Chair) of the University Court, representing the students on this body. Members of the university staff are excluded from the office, which is generally given to a distinguished public figure.
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society > education > educational administration > university administration > [noun] > rector at Scottish university
rector1522
pro-rectora1630
1522 King James V in Rep. St. Andrews Univ. Comm. (1837) III. 180 The Universitie of Sanctandrois, the rector, doctouris, regentes, maisteris, scolaris,..makand residence therein.
?1566–7 G. Buchanan Opinion Reformation Univ. St. Andros in Vernacular Writings (1892) 15 The rectour most be..doctor or bachelar in the hyear faculteis, or principal of ane college,..and salbe chosin be the hayl graduattis of the vniuersite... The rectouris tyme to be ane ȝeir.
1640 in Rep. Comm. Univ. Scot. (1830) 114 The Counsall..have resolved and ordaynit..that yeirlie upon the first Wednesday of December, thair sall be chosen ane Rector.
1666–88 G. Dallas Syst. Stiles 126 To the Rector and Principal of the University of Glasgow.
1717 in J. Robertson & C. Innes Munimenta Univ. Glasguensis (1854) II. 559 The chancellor [etc.]..shall..make up a lite of the persons out of which the rector is to be chosen.
1776 Weekly Mag. 8 Aug. 210 The rector is the next great officer, to whose care is committed the privileges, discipline, and statutes of the University.
1830 Rep. Comm. Univ. Scotl. App. 317 The Rector and his Assessors..constitute a Court, and have frequently exercised control over the University [of Aberdeen].
1884 A. Grant Story Univ. Edinb. II. 106 Mr. Gladstone thus became [in 1859] the first elected Lord Rector of the University of Edinburgh.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 49/1 To the memory of Sir James M'Grigor.., who was thrice elected lord rector of the College.
1934 W. M. Alexander Four Nations of Aberdeen Univ. 2 Only in the four universities in Scotland do the students to-day possess the right..of electing the rector.
1998 Independent 26 Nov. i. 13/3 If Clarissa Dickson Wright is elected rector of Aberdeen University, she will be the first celebrity cook to hold the title.
c. The head and president of the administrative body of certain universities in continental Europe.The exact role of the rector differs over time and from country to country. In most cases the rector is elected or appointed from the professors, and serves a term of one to three years.
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society > education > educational administration > university administration > [noun] > principal
principal1438
rector1523
pro-rector1886
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cccxlvi. f. ccxxiv/2 For the rectour and maister doctour of the vnyuersyte of Parys to knowe of them to whiche electyon outher the first or the seconde that he shulde holde vnto.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. cxcix The Rector of the Uniuersitie called to counsell all the doctors regentes that were that tyme at Tholose.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Recteur de l' Vniversité, the Rector, the Vicechancelor.
1669 W. Aglionby Present State United Provinces iii. vii. 245 The University [of Leyden] was inaugurated the eighth of February,..and every year upon the same day is declar'd Rector, he whom his Highness the Prince of Orange is pleas'd to choose, out of three that are nam'd to him.
1738 Present State Germany I. 174 The Elector, and the Duke of Wolfenbuttel, are joint Sovereigns, and have the Direction of it [sc. University of Helmstadt] in their Turns..; when they are pleased to be called Rector.
1799 J. Aikin et al. Gen. Biogr. I. 518/2 Baduel, Claud, a protestant divine of the sixteenth century, was a native of Nismes, and under the patronage of the queen of Navarre, was appointed the rector of the university in that city.
1818 Autumn near Rhine 332 The Grand Duke of Baden, in whose territory Heidelberg is comprised, is the nominal head under the title of Rector.
1885 J. Hutchison tr. J. Conrad Germ. Univ. Transl. Note An address delivered..by..Dr. Döllinger, Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the University of Munich, in his capacity of rector for the year.
1912 Catholic Encycl. XIII. 612/1 Tartaretus (about 1495), rector of the University of Paris, and not a Franciscan.
1954 C. R. Decker & M. B. Decker Place of Light 54 Why not the modern European system where the faculty seems to run the university, where the rector is simply a figurehead..?
2005 L. van den Berg et al. European Cities in Knowl. Econ. v. 152 The participants in the Helsinki Club [include]..the rector of the University of Helsinki, a professor from bioscience, and a representative of the Chamber of Commerce.
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society > education > teaching > teacher > university or college teacher > [noun] > Scottish
regent1509
rector1535
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) I. 3 Maister in art, rector in theologie, In all science ane profound clerk is he.
e. Oxford University and Cambridge University. A proctor. Chiefly historical.
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society > education > educational administration > university administration > [noun] > proctor > pro-proctor
pro-proctor1637
rector1665
1665 J. Buck in G. Peacock Observ. Statutes Univ. Cambr. (1841) App. B. p. lxxxiii The Proctor, or Pro-proctor..beginneth with a speech... The Rector, or Proproctor, who moderates at these two acts hath his cap garnished with Gold Lace.
1697 W. Nicolson Eng. Hist. Libr. II. viii. 221 Wherein the Civil Wars betwixt our two Universities were the most violent, was Printed a Catalogue of the Rectors and Chancellors of Cambridge.
1721 tr. N. Cantalupus Historiola Cantabrigiensis in Hist. & Antiq. Univ. Cambr. i. 15 That noble Man Beteganus was, with the good liking of the Scholars, appointed Rector and Chancellor of Oxford in the Place of Grimbald.
1895 H. Rashdall Univ. Europe in Middle Ages II. xii. §2. 370 At Oxford the Proctors on one of their earliest appearances in history are styled ‘Rectors’ instead of Proctors. At Oxford the title Rector is rarely used afterwards. At Cambridge both titles continued in use throughout the medieval period.
1912 R. S. Rait Life in Medieval Univ. iv. 47 The constitution of Oxford was closely imitated at Cambridge, where the Head of the University was also the Chancellor, and the executive consisted of two rectors or proctors.
1984 M. B. Hackett in J. I. Catto et al. Hist. Univ. Oxf. I. ii. 82 The title ‘rector’ had no administrative significance; it was synonymous with ‘regent’. By 1248 it was being challenged by ‘proctor’.
1996 E. S. Leedham-Green Conc. Hist. Univ. Cambr. i. 11 The title of rector occurs in the early records and is replaced gradually over the course of the thirteenth century by that of proctor.
4. A leader of a choir, esp. each of two or more vicars choral leading a cathedral choir under the direction of the precentor. Now historical and rare. [Compare earlier borrowing of post-classical Latin rector chori (see etymology) as rector chorye, from the early 16th cent., e.g.:]
?a1527 in Regulations & Establishm. Househ. Earl of Northumberland (1905) 190 And to kepe the iiij Rector Choryes upon Pryncipall Feests who [are] ordeynyde to be had for that cause.
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society > faith > church government > laity > lay functionaries > chorister > [noun] > chief
rector1548
1548 in W. Page Certificates Chantries County of York (1895) II. 433 To do suche thinges as they shalbe commaunded to do by the rector of the quere.
1583 J. Foxe Actes & Monuments (ed. 4) II. x. 1400/1 Then to the step of the quere, let the Deacon himselfe beare the pax vnto the rectors of the quere.
1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses (1813) I. 106 He was buried in the choir..under that very place where the rectors of the choir sing the psalm..‘Venite exultemus’.
1812 J. Bigland Beauties Eng. & Wales XVI. 562 One of them [sc. the prebends] who should be the most fit was to be rector of the choir.
1865 M. E. C. Walcott Cathedralia 182 The rectors walked to and fro on either side of the choir, with rector's staves in their hands to mark the time of the chant.
1938 Proc. Musical Assoc. 65th Session 117 In 1486 the choir was considered unsatisfactory... The rectors of the choir were continually absent from duty, and when present sang indistinctly.
Derivatives
ΚΠ
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Rectorial Rectoriall, Rector-like; belonging to a Rector, or Vicechancelor.
1831 T. B. Macaulay Let. 7 June in G. O. Trevelyan Life & Lett. Macaulay (1876) I. iv. 218 His rector-like amplitude and rubicundity.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.a1325