pastor

See also: Pastor, pastôr, and păstor

English

Alternative forms

• pastour (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English pastour, from Old French pastor (Modern French pasteur), from Latin pāstor.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑː.stə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpæs.tɚ/
• Rhymes: -ɑːstə(ɹ), -æstə(ɹ)
• Homophone: pasta (Australia, New Zealand, Northern England, non-rhotic)

Noun

pastor (plural pastors)

1. (now rare) Someone who tends to a flock of animals: synonym of shepherd.
3. (countable, religion) Someone with spiritual authority over a group of people.

   Synonym: shepherd

   Hypernym: cleric

   Coordinate terms: imam, guru, rabbi, sangha

   2. (countable, Protestantism) A minister or priest in a church.

      Synonyms: elder, pastor-teacher

      Hypernym: cleric

   3. (countable, Roman Catholicism, US) The main priest serving a parish.

      Synonym: parish priest

      Hypernym: cleric

      Coordinate term: parochial vicar

      • 2020 August 12, Daniel Burke, “California church defies public health orders, holds indoor services for thousands with no social distancing”, in CNN‎^[1]:

        The pastor told CNN on Tuesday that no members of his megachurch have contracted the virus. MacArthur also said he doubted the accuracy of California’s coronavirus numbers. […] Most of the pastors who have bucked the rules are fringe figures in American Christianity.

4. A bird, the rosy starling.
   • 1944, Country Life, volume 95, page 820:

     Agricultural officers have put it on record that the pastor must on balance be considered beneficial on account of the vast quantities of locusts which it destroys.

Derived terms

• copastor
• impastor
• pastorage
• pastoral
• pastorate
• pastoress
• pastorhood
• pastorize
• pastorless
• pastorlike
• pastorly
• pastorpreneur
• pastorship
• pastress
• rose-colored pastor
• rose-coloured pastor
• rosy pastor
• subpastor

Related terms

• al pastor

Translations

shepherd — see shepherd

minister or priest

• Albanian: pastor m
• Arabic: قِسِّيس (ar) m (qissīs)
• Armenian: պաստոր (hy) (pastor)
• Azerbaijani: pastor (az)
• Belarusian: па́стар m (pástar)
• Bulgarian: па́стор (bg) m (pástor)
• Catalan: capellà (ca) m (Catholic), mossèn (ca) m (Catholic), sacerdot (ca) m (Catholic), pastor (ca) m (Protestant)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 傳道人 / 传道人 (cyun⁴ dou⁶ jan⁴), 牧師 / 牧师 (muk⁶ si¹) (usually ordained)

  Mandarin: 傳道人 / 传道人 (chuándàorén), 牧師 / 牧师 (zh) (mùshī) (usually ordained)

• Czech: pastor (cs) m
• Danish: pastor c
• Dutch: priester (nl) m
• Estonian: pastor (et)
• Finnish: pastori (fi), pappi (fi)
• French: pasteur (fr) m
• Georgian: პასტორი (ka) (ṗasṭori)
• German: Pastor (de) m, Pastorin (de) f
• Greek: πάστορας (el) m (pástoras)
• Hebrew: כומר / כֹּמֶר (he) m (kómer)
• Hungarian: pásztor (hu), lelkipásztor (hu)
• Indonesian: pendeta (id), pastor (id)
• Italian: pastore (it) m
• Japanese: 牧師 (ja) (ぼくし, bokushi)
• Kazakh: пастор (pastor)
• Korean: 목사(牧師) (ko) (moksa)
• Kyrgyz: пастор (pastor)
• Latvian: mācītājs m
• Lithuanian: pastorius m
• Macedonian: пастор m (pastor)
• Naga:

  Khiamniungan Naga: āmpāu

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: pastor m

• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: کَشیش (fa) (kašiš), قِسّیس (fa) (ġessis)

• Plautdietsch: Prädja m
• Polish: pastor (pl) m
• Portuguese: pastor (pt) m
• Romanian: păstor (ro) m
• Russian: па́стор (ru) m (pástor)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: па̏стор m

  Latin: pȁstor (sh) m

• Slovak: pastor m
• Slovene: pastor m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: faraŕ m

• Spanish: pastor (es) m
• Swedish: pastor (sv) c
• Tagalog: pastor
• Tajik: пастор (pastor)
• Thai: ศิษยาภิบาล
• Turkish: pastör
• Ukrainian: па́стор m (pástor)
• Uzbek: pastor (uz)
• Vietnamese: mục sư (vi) (牧師)

main priest serving a parish

• Catalan: rector (ca) m (Catholic), mossèn (ca) m (Catholic)
• Finnish: pastori (fi)
• Greek: εφημέριος (el) m (efimérios)
• Indonesian: pastor (id)
• Italian: pastore (it) m
• Polish: proboszcz (pl) m
• Russian: настоя́тель (ru) m (nastojátelʹ)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: faraŕ m

• Tagalog: pastor
• Ukrainian: настоя́тель m (nastojátelʹ)
• Vietnamese: cha xứ, cha chính xứ, cha chánh xứ

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

Translations to be checked

• Breton: ^{(please verify)} pastor (br) m
• Chichewa: ^{(please verify)} mbusa
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: ^{(please verify)} 牧師 / 牧师 (muk⁶ si¹)

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 牧師 / 牧师 (zh) (mùshī)

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} pastoor (nl) m, ^{(please verify)} dominee (nl) m
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} pastoro (eo)
• Fijian: ^{(please verify)} alatala (fj)
• French: ^{(please verify)} pasteur (fr) m
• Galician: ^{(please verify)} pastor (gl) m
• German: ^{(please verify)} Pastor (de) m, ^{(please verify)} Pastorin (de) f, ^{(please verify)} Pfarrer (de) m, ^{(please verify)} Pfarrerin (de) f

  Alemannic German: ^{(please verify)} Heer m

• Hindi: ^{(please verify)} पादरी (hi) (pādrī)
• Icelandic: prestur (is) m
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} pastore (it)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 목사님 (moksanim), ^{(please verify)} 목사 (ko) (moksa)
• Lingala: ^{(please verify)} mobáteli class 1/2
• Norman: ^{(please verify)} pasteur m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ^{(please verify)} pastor m

  Nynorsk: ^{(please verify)} pastor m

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} pastor (es) m, ^{(please verify)} pastora (es) f
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} pastor (sv)
• Ukrainian: ^{(please verify)} пастор m (pastor)
• Welsh: ^{(please verify)} bugail m

Verb

pastor (third-person singular simple present pastors, present participle pastoring, simple past and past participle pastored)

1. (Christianity, ambitransitive, stative) To serve a congregation as pastor.
   • 2009 January 21, Shaila Dewan, “Epic Campaign Divided Family, Then United It”, in New York Times‎^[2]:

     As they pastored churches in Georgia and Texas, they supported talented black politicians who were unable to win statewide office.

See also

• cleric
• father
• minister
• parson
• priest
• reverend
• vicar

Anagrams

• Portas, Sproat, asport, portas, sap rot, saprot

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan pastor, from Latin pāstōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [pəsˈtu]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central) [pəsˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [pasˈtoɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [pasˈto]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

pastor m (plural pastors, feminine pastora, feminine plural pastores)

1. shepherd, herder
2. pastor, priest

Derived terms

• pastor alemany

Related terms

• pastura
• pasturar
• péixer

References

• “pastor”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “pastor”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “pastor” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “pastor”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish pastor. Doublet of pastores.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: pas‧tor
• IPA^(key): /pasˈtoɾ/ [pɐs̪ˈt̪oɾ̪]

Noun

pastór

1. herder
2. (Catholicism) parish priest; pastor
3. (Protestantism) pastor

Related terms

• pasto
• pastora
• pastores

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch pastoor, from Middle Dutch pastōor, from Latin pāstor, from pāscō (“to feed, maintain, pasture, graze”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to protect”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pastor/
• Hyphenation: pas‧tor

Noun

pastor (plural pastor-pastor)

1. (Christianity, Roman Catholicism) parish priest

Alternative forms

• pastur

Derived terms

• kepastoran
• pastoran

• pastor pembantu

Related terms

• pastoral

Further reading

• “pastor”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Ladino

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *péh₂sti

Proto-Italic *pāskō

Latin pāscō

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Latin pāstor

Old Spanish pastor

Ladino pastor

Inherited from Old Spanish pastor, from Latin pāstor.

Noun

pastor m (Hebrew spelling פאסטור)

1. (countable) shepherd (a person who tends sheep, especially a grazing flock)
   • 2002, Aki Yerushalayim‎^[3], numbers 68–72, page 83:

     Komo vijita el pastor a su revanyo
     i aze pasar a sus ovejas debasho su vara,
     ansi azes pasar i rekontas i kontas i sekutas alma de todo bivo.

     As the shepherd visits his flock and causes his sheep to pass under his staff, thus you cause to pass and recount and consider and appoint every being’s spirit.

2. (countable, religion) pastor (someone with spiritual authority over a group of people)
   • 2002, Gad Nassi, editor, En Tierras Ajenas Yo Me Vo Murir: Tekstos Kontemporanos en Djudeo-espaniol : Leyenda de Una Lingua - Haketia - Kuentos. Memorias - Meliselda - Oki Oki‎^[4], Isis, →ISBN, page 248:

     En esto, el pastor disho al prens de los guerkos: “Tengo oyido ke los guerkos konosen la lingua de los pasharos, ma nunka no me kreyi en esto.”

     Regarding this, the pastor said to the prince of demons: ‘I have heard that the demons know the birds’ language, but I have never believed in this.’

Related terms

• pastoral

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *péh₂sti

Proto-Italic *pāskō

Latin pāscō

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Latin pāstor

From pāscō (“to feed, maintain, pasture, graze”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈpaːs.tɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈpas.tor]

Noun

pāstor m (genitive pāstōris, feminine pāstrīx); third declension

1. A person who tends sheep; shepherd.
   • 25 BC, Sextus Propertius, Elegiae; II, i, 43–4

     Navita de ventis, de tauris narrat arator,
     Enumerat miles vulnera, pastor oves.

     The sailor tells of winds, the ploughman of bulls,
     the soldier counts his wounds, the shepherd his sheep.

2. A Christian who takes care of the spiritual needs of other Christians
   • 4th century, St Jerome, Vulgate, Ephesians 4:11

     et ipse dedit quosdam quidem apostolos quosdam autem prophetas alios vero evangelistas alios autem pastores et doctores

     And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and other some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	pāstor	pāstōrēs
genitive	pāstōris	pāstōrum
dative	pāstōrī	pāstōribus
accusative	pāstōrem	pāstōrēs
ablative	pāstōre	pāstōribus
vocative	pāstor	pāstōrēs

Derived terms

• pāstōrius
• pāstōrālis

Related terms

• pāscitō
• pāscō
• pāscor
• pāscuus

Descendants

• Asturian: pastor
• Esperanto: pastro
• Friulian: pastôr
• → German: Pastor
  • → Romanian: pastor
• Italian: pastore
• → Middle Dutch: pastoor
  • Dutch: pastoor
    • Afrikaans: pastoor
    • → Indonesian: pastor
    • → Javanese: ꦥꦱ꧀ꦠꦸꦂ (pastur)
    • → Lokono: pastoro
    • → Papiamentu: pastor
    • → West Frisian: pastoar
  • Limburgish: pestoear
  • West Flemish: paster
• Old French: (from the nominative) pastre
  • French: pâtre m
• Old French: (from the accusative or genitive) pastor
  • French: pasteur
  • Norman: pâteu'
  • → Middle English: pastour
    • English: pastor
• Old Occitan: (from the accusative) pastor
  • Catalan: pastor
  • Occitan: pastor
• Old Occitan: (from the nominative)
  • Occitan: pastre
• Portuguese: pastor
• Romanian: păstor
• Romansh: pastur, pastour
• → Russian: пастор (pastor)
  • → Kazakh: пастор (pastor)
• Sicilian: pasturi
• Spanish: pastor
  • → Cebuano: pastor
  • → Northern Puebla Nahuatl: paxtol
  • → Tagalog: pastol, pastor
• → Swedish: pastor
  • → Finnish: pastori
• Venetan: pastor

References

• “pastor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “pastor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "pastor", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “pastor”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pāstor.

Noun

pastor m (definite singular pastoren, indefinite plural pastorer, definite plural pastorene)

1. (religion) pastor

References

• “pastor” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pāstor.

Noun

pastor m (definite singular pastoren, indefinite plural pastorar, definite plural pastorane)

1. (religion) pastor

References

• “pastor” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan pastor, from Latin accusative pāstorem (Latin pāstor).

Cf. also pastre from the Latin nominative.

Cognates include French pasteur, Norman pâteu', Catalan pastor.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

Noun

pastor m (plural pastors)

1. shepherd
2. pastor, priest, minister

Related terms

• pàisser, pàsquer

See also

• anhèl
• feda
• moton
• oelha
• oelhièr

Old French

Alternative forms

• pastur

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pāstor, pāstōrem. Compare the inherited doublet pastre.

Noun

pastor oblique singular, m (oblique plural pastors, nominative singular pastre, nominative plural pastor)

1. shepherd
2. (Christianity) pastor

Descendants

• French: pasteur
• Norman: pâteu'
• → Middle English: pastour
  • English: pastor

Old Occitan

Etymology

From the accusative declension of Latin pāstor, pāstōrem. Cf also the form pastre from the nominative.

Noun

pastor m (oblique plural pastors, nominative singular pastors, nominative plural pastor)

1. shepherd
2. paster, priest, minister

Descendants

• Occitan: pastor

Old Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *péh₂sti

Proto-Italic *pāskō

Latin pāscō

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Latin pāstor

Old Spanish pastor

Inherited from Latin pāstor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pasˈtoɾ/

Noun

pastor m (plural pastores, feminine singular pastora, feminine plural pastoras)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Derived terms

• pastorear

Descendants

• Ladino: pastor / פאסטור
• Spanish: pastor

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from German Pastor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpas.tɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -astɔr
• Syllabification: pas‧tor

Noun

pastor m pers

1. (Protestantism) pastor (in Protestant churches)

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:ksiądz

Declension

Declension of pastor

	singular	plural
nominative	pastor	pastorzy/pastorowie/pastory (deprecative)
genitive	pastora	pastorów
dative	pastorowi	pastorom
accusative	pastora	pastorów
instrumental	pastorem	pastorami
locative	pastorze	pastorach
vocative	pastorze	pastorzy/pastorowie/pastory (deprecative)

Further reading

• “pastor”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[5] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “pastor”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[6] (in Polish)

Portuguese

pastor

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese pastor, from Latin pāstōrem.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /pasˈtoʁ/ [pasˈtoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /pasˈtoʁ/ [pasˈtoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /pasˈtoɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /paʃˈtoʁ/ [paʃˈtoχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /pasˈtoɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɐʃˈtoɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɐʃˈtoɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɐʃˈto.ɾi/

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Homophone: pastou (non-rhotic accents)
• Rhymes: (Brazil) -oʁ, (Portugal) -oɾ
• Hyphenation: pas‧tor

Noun

pastor m (plural pastores, feminine pastora, feminine plural pastoras)

1. herdsman; herder (someone who tends livestock)
2. (in particular) shepherd (someone who tends sheep)
3. herding dog (any of several breeds of dog originally used to herd livestock)
   1. ellipsis of pastor-alemão
4. (figurative, chiefly religion) shepherd (one who watches over or guides others)
5. (Protestantism) the chief clergyman of a Protestant congregation: a pastor, minister or parson

Derived terms

• pastor alemão
• pastor australiano
• pastor belga
• pastor de Shetland
• pastora
• pastorar
• pastorear
• pastoril
• pastorinha
• pastorinho (diminutive)
• pastorzão (augmentative)
• pastorzinho (diminutive)

Related terms

• pascer
• pastar
• pasto
• pastoral
• pastoreio

Further reading

• “pastor”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “pastor”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Alternative forms

• пастор (pastor) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Etymology

Borrowed from German Pastor, from Latin pāstor. Compare the inherited doublet păstor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpas.tor/
• Rhymes: -astor
• Hyphenation: pas‧tor

Noun

pastor m (plural pastori)

1. (Protestantism) pastor, priest

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	pastor	pastorul	pastori	pastorii
genitive-dative	pastor	pastorului	pastori	pastorilor
vocative	pastorule		pastorilor

Related terms

• pastoral
• pastorală

See also

• preot

References

• “pastor”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Spanish

Un pastor y sus ovejas ― A shepherd and his sheep

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *péh₂sti

Proto-Italic *pāskō

Latin pāscō

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Latin pāstor

Old Spanish pastor

Spanish pastor

Inherited from Old Spanish pastor, from Latin pāstor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pasˈtoɾ/ [pasˈt̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: pas‧tor

Noun

pastor m (plural pastores, feminine pastora, feminine plural pastoras)

1. shepherd

   Synonym: ovejero

2. herder

   Synonym: cabañero

3. (Catholicism) pastor, priest

   Synonyms: sacerdote, cura, párroco

Derived terms

• bolsa del pastor
• cuchara de pastor
• gazpacho pastor
• mate del pastor
• pastel del pastor
• pastor alemán
• pastor australiano
• pastor eléctrico
• perro pastor

Related terms

• pacer
• pasta
• pastar
• pasto
• pastoral

Descendants

• → Cebuano: pastor
• → Northern Puebla Nahuatl: paxtol
• → Tagalog: pastol, pastor

Further reading

• “pastor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

pastor c

1. pastor, priest
2. indefinite plural of pasta

Declension

Declension of pastor

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	pastor	pastors
	definite	pastorn	pastorns
plural	indefinite	pastorer	pastorers
	definite	pastorerna	pastorernas

Descendants

• → Finnish: pastori

Anagrams

• portas, postar, ropats, sporta

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• pastores — slightly archaic

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *péh₂sti

Proto-Italic *pāskō

Latin pāscō

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Latin pāstor

Old Spanish pastor

Spanish pastorbor.

Tagalog pastor

Borrowed from Spanish pastor, from Old Spanish pastor, from Latin pāstor, from pāscō + -tor. Doublet of pastol, an early borrowing.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /pasˈtoɾ/ [pɐsˈt̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: pas‧tor

Noun

pastór (feminine pastora, Baybayin spelling ᜉᜐ᜔ᜆᜓᜇ᜔)

1. (Catholicism) parish priest; pastor
2. (Protestantism) church minister; pastor

Related terms

• Pastor
• pastoral

Further reading

• “pastor”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018

Venetan

Etymology

From Latin pāstor, pāstōrem. Compare Italian pastore.

Noun

pastor m (plural pastori) or pastor m (plural pasturi)

1. shepherd