pastor

1 of 3

noun (1)

pas·​tor ˈpa-stər How to pronounce pastor (audio)
plural pastors
: a spiritual overseer
especially : a clergyperson serving a local church or parish
pastorship noun

pastor

2 of 3

verb

pastored; pastoring ˈpa-st(ə-)riŋ How to pronounce pastor (audio)

transitive verb

: to serve as pastor of
pastor a church

pastor

3 of 3

noun (2)

pas·​tor pä-ˈstȯr How to pronounce pastor (audio)
chiefly Southwestern US

Examples of pastor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
There's pre-Jam worship with SEU Worship, John Wesley, and Lin D, tour pastor Zane Black, and special guest Joseph O'Brien. Luann Gibbs, The Enquirer, 20 Mar. 2024 Brooklyn pastor ‘Bling Bishop’ convicted of fraud and extortion A flashy, jewelry-wearing pastor was found guilty of spending $90,000 of his parishioner’s savings on luxury goods. Alexandra Banner, CNN, 13 Mar. 2024 The father, a pastor who lives in Illinois and works in St. Louis, spoke for 15 minutes Tuesday. Elliot Hughes, Journal Sentinel, 12 Mar. 2024 The most popular chicken al pastor entrée in 2023 was a burrito bowl with white rice, black beans, tomato salsa, roasted corn salsa, cheese and guacamole. Sabrina Weiss, Peoplemag, 12 Mar. 2024 The church is searching for an executive pastor, a missions pastor and a youth pastor, a representative of the personnel committee said at the meeting with members on March 3. Frank E. Lockwood, arkansasonline.com, 10 Mar. 2024 Born in 1859 and 1868, respectively, Mildred and Patty were two of six children of the Reverend William Wallace Hill, a Presbyterian minister who edited a religious journal and served as a pastor at Anchorage Presbyterian Church outside of Louisville. Kellie B. Gormly, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Mar. 2024 Another, Ryan Binkley, a pastor and businessman from Texas, suspended his campaign on Tuesday. Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press, 28 Feb. 2024 The couple had family, friends, their pastor and local business owners attest to their commitment as parents. Angela Andaloro, Peoplemag, 7 Mar. 2024
Verb
Donna Nez, who pastors the Hard Rock Community Church in northwest Arizona, also opposes the bill. Karin Brulliard, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2023 My call there is to work hard to pastor it as a parish, but also to send out the message of the unity of the church of all parishes under the archbishop. Sophie Carson, Journal Sentinel, 11 Aug. 2023 During the pandemic, Dwight Mosley, who pastors a church in neighboring DeSoto County, helped run a drive-thru food pantry at an arena in Tunica County where long lines of cars showed how many families were overwhelmed. Bracey Harris, NBC News, 19 July 2023 Kirchharr later left the company to pastor a church, and Dustin Kilgore, a former Monroeville firefighter who had learned the ropes from Kirchharr, became the production manager. Bob Carlton | Bcarlton@al.com, al, 6 Oct. 2021 Two Norwegian couples heading the San Pedro site returned home earlier this year, and Berg, who had arrived from Norway in the summer of 2019 to pastor a sister church in San Francisco, now splits his time between the two locales. Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pastor.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English pastour, from Anglo-French, from Latin pastor herdsman, from pascere to feed — more at food

Noun (2)

Spanish, from Latin

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1623, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pastor was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near pastor

Cite this Entry

“Pastor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pastor. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

pastor

noun
pas·​tor
ˈpas-tər
: a minister or priest in charge of a church or parish
pastorship
-ˌship
noun
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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