having the simplicity, charm, serenity, or other characteristics generally attributed to rural areas: pastoral scenery; the pastoral life.
pertaining to the country or to life in the country; rural; rustic.
portraying or suggesting idyllically the life of shepherds or of the country, as a work of literature, art, or music: pastoral poetry; a pastoral symphony.
of, relating to, or consisting of shepherds.
of or relating to a pastor or the duties of a pastor: pastoral visits to a hospital.
used for pasture, as land.
noun
a poem, play, or the like, dealing with the life of shepherds, commonly in a conventional or artificial manner, or with simple rural life generally; a bucolic.
a picture or work of art representing the shepherds' life.
Music. pastorale.
a treatise on the duties of a pastor.
a letter to the people from their spiritual pastor.
a letter to the clergy or people of an ecclesiastical district from its bishop.
Also called pastoral staff . crosier (def. 1).
Origin of pastoral
1350–1400; Middle English <Latin pāstōrālis, equivalent to pāstōr-, stem of pāstor (see pastor) + -ālis-al1
The languid waterway, which divides and gives life to the pastoral Shenandoah Valley just west of the park, is a source of both beauty and life for the farming communities built on its banks.
The Ultimate Shenandoah National Park Travel Guide|Graham Averill|October 7, 2020|Outside Online
The carriage drivers insist that a great majority of their horses live to enjoy a pastoral retirement.
Central Park’s Carriages Saved This Horse|Michael Daly|April 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is a novel of suspense and secrets, a pastoral novel that slowly tears the pastoral apart.
How I Write: Paul Lynch|Noah Charney|December 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
For most of the year, pastoral Pag is home to roughly eight thousand residents and thirty thousand indigenous sheep.
Party on in Pag: The Controversy on Croatia’s Hottest Island|Kristin Vukovic|August 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Kristin Vuković on the pastoral island struggling to attract a different kind of tourist.
Party on in Pag: The Controversy on Croatia’s Hottest Island|Kristin Vukovic|August 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Cryptically, he added that he would like women to have more leadership roles in administrative and pastoral activities.
What About Women, Pope Francis?|Janine di Giovanni|August 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST
After his return059/55 he applied himself with zeal and success to his pastoral duties.
Deaconesses in Europe|Jane M. Bancroft
She seemed to take stock of his learning and to mock at the idea of his pastoral claims.
Not Like Other Girls|Rosa N. Carey
Just as at the pastoral stage, so in this, the cattle and the growing grain must be protected from attacks by man and beast.
Ethics|John Dewey and James Hayden Tufts
Through the marvelously clear air the smoke of the pastoral village of Poker Flat rose miles away.
The Short-story|William Patterson Atkinson
And taking all together it will be seen that the pastoral wealth of the people was largely claimed.
The Expositor's Bible:The Book of Numbers|Robert A. Watson
British Dictionary definitions for pastoral
pastoral
/ (ˈpɑːstərəl) /
adjective
of, characterized by, or depicting rural life, scenery, etc
(of a literary work) dealing with an idealized form of rural existence in a conventional way
(of land) used for pasture
denoting or relating to the branch of theology dealing with the duties of a clergyman or priest to his congregation
of or relating to a clergyman or priest in charge of a congregation or his duties as such
of or relating to a teacher's responsibility for the personal, as the distinct from the educational, development of pupils
of or relating to shepherds, their work, etc
noun
a literary work or picture portraying rural life, esp the lives of shepherds in an idealizing waySee also eclogue
music a variant of pastorale
Christianity
a letter from a clergyman to the people under his charge
the letter of a bishop to the clergy or people of his diocese
Also called: pastoral staffthe crosier or staff carried by a bishop as a symbol of his pastoral responsibilities
A work of art that celebrates the cultivated enjoyment of the countryside. The poem “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” by Christopher Marlowe, is a pastoral. Its first stanza reads:
Come live with me, and be my love; And we will all the pleasures prove That hills and valleys, dales and fields, Woods or steepy mountain yields.