Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Rector
Rec′tor
(r?k′t?r)
, Noun.
1.
A ruler or governor.
[R.]
God is the supreme
rector
of the world. Sir M. Hale.
2.
(a)
(Ch. of Eng.)
A clergyman who has the charge and cure of a parish, and has the tithes, etc.; the clergyman of a parish where the tithes are not impropriate. See the Note under Vicar.
Blackstone.
(b)
(Prot. Epis. Ch.)
A clergyman in charge of a parish.
3.
The head master of a public school.
[Scot.]
4.
The chief elective officer of some universities, as in France and Scotland; sometimes, the head of a college;
as, the
. Rector
of Exeter College, or of Lincoln College, at Oxford5.
(R. C. Ch.)
The superior officer or chief of a convent or religious house; and among the Jesuits the superior of a house that is a seminary or college.
Webster 1828 Edition
Rector
REC'TOR
,Noun.
1.
A ruler or governor.God is the supreme rector of the world.
[This application of the word is unusual.]
2.
A clergyman who has the charge and cure of a parish, and has the tithes, &c.; or the parson of an unimpropriated parish.3.
The chief elective officer of some universities, as in France and Scotland. The same title was formerly given to the president of a college in New England, but it is now in disuse. In Scotland, it is still the title of the head master of a principal school.4.
The superior officer or chief of a convent or religious house; and among the Jesuits, the superior of a house that is a seminary or college.Definition 2024
Rector
rector
rector
See also: Rector
English
Alternative forms
- rectour (obsolete)
Noun
rector (plural rectors)
- In the Anglican Church, a cleric in charge of a parish and who owns the tithes of it.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 10, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
- It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.
-
- In the Roman Catholic Church, a cleric with managerial as well as spiritual responsibility for a church or other institution.
- A headmaster in various educational institutions, e.g. a university.
Related terms
Translations
cleric in charge of a parish
headmaster
Catalan
Adjective
rector m (feminine rectora, masculine plural rectors, feminine plural rectores)
Noun
rector m (plural rectors)
Latin
Etymology
From rectus (“past participle of rego (“to direct”)”) + -or.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈrek.tor/, [ˈrɛk.tɔr]
Noun
rēctor m (genitive rēctōris); third declension
Inflection
Third declension.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
nominative | rēctor | rēctōrēs |
genitive | rēctōris | rēctōrum |
dative | rēctōrī | rēctōribus |
accusative | rēctōrem | rēctōrēs |
ablative | rēctōre | rēctōribus |
vocative | rēctor | rēctōrēs |
Descendants
- English: rector
- French: recteur
- German: Rektor
- Italian: rettore
- Norman: recteu (Jersey)
- Portuguese: reitor
- Polish: rektor
- Romanian: rector
- Spanish: rector
References
- rector in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- rector in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- RECTOR in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
- Félix Gaffiot (1934), “rector”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
- Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- the head of the state: rector civitatis (De Or. 1. 48. 211)
- the head of the state: rector civitatis (De Or. 1. 48. 211)