pastor

• pastour (obsolete)

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

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

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

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

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.

• al pastor

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.

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

Inherited from Old Catalan pastor, from Latin pāstōrem.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [pəsˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [pasˈtoɾ]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

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

1. shepherd, herder
2. pastor, priest

• pastor alemany

• pastura
• pasturar
• péixer

• “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.
• “pastor” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Borrowed from Spanish pastor. Doublet of pastores.

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

pastór

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

• pasto
• pastora
• pastores

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

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

pastor (plural pastor-pastor)

1. (Christianity, Roman Catholicism) parish priest

• pastur

• “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

Inherited from Old Spanish pastor, from Latin pāstor.

pastor m (Hebrew spelling פאסטור)^[1]

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.’

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

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

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

Third-declension noun.

• pāstōrius
• pāstōrālis

• pāscitō
• pāscō
• pāscor
• pāscuus

• “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

Borrowed from Latin pāstor.

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

1. (religion) pastor

• “pastor” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Borrowed from Latin pāstor.

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

1. (religion) pastor

• “pastor” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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.

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

pastor m (plural pastors)

1. shepherd
2. pastor, priest, minister

• pàisser, pàsquer

• anhèl
• feda
• moton
• oelha
• oelhièr

• pastur

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

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

1. shepherd
2. (Christianity) pastor

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

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

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

1. shepherd
2. paster, priest, minister

Inherited from Latin pāstor.

• IPA^(key): /pasˈtoɾ/

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}}.

Borrowed from German Pastor.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpas.tɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -astɔr
• Syllabification: pas‧tor

pastor m pers

1. (Protestantism) pastor (in Protestant churches)

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:ksiądz

• pastor in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• pastor in Polish dictionaries at PWN

From Old Galician-Portuguese pastor, from Latin pāstōrem.

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

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

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

• “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

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈpas.tor/

pastor m (plural pastori)

1. (Protestantism) pastor, priest

• pastoral
• pastorală

• preot

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

Inherited from Old Spanish pastor, from Latin pāstor.

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

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

• “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

• Audio:

  (file)

pastor c

1. pastor, priest
2. indefinite plural of pasta

• → Finnish: pastori

• portas, postar, ropats, sporta

• pastores — slightly archaic

Borrowed from Spanish pastor, from Old Spanish pastor, from Latin pāstor, from pāscō, from Proto-Italic *pāskō, from Proto-Indo-European *péh₂sti, from *peh₂-. Doublet of pastol, an early borrowing.

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

pastór (feminine pastora, Baybayin spelling ᜉᜐ᜔ᜆᜓᜇ᜔)

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

• Pastor
• pastoral

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

From Latin pāstor, pāstōrem. Compare Italian pastore.

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

1. shepherd