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Definition of pastoral - 4 dictionary results

pas⋅to⋅ral

  [pas-ter-uhl, pah-ster-]
Use pastoral in a Sentence
–adjective
1. having the simplicity, charm, serenity, or other characteristics generally attributed to rural areas: pastoral scenery; the pastoral life.
2. pertaining to the country or to life in the country; rural; rustic.
3. 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.
4. of, pertaining to, or consisting of shepherds.
5. of or pertaining to a pastor or the duties of a pastor: pastoral visits to a hospital.
6. used for pasture, as land.
–noun
7. 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.
8. a picture or work of art representing the shepherds' life.
9. Music. pastorale.
10. a treatise on the duties of a pastor.
11. a letter to the people from their spiritual pastor.
12. a letter to the clergy or people of an ecclesiastical district from its bishop.
13. Also called pastoral staff. crosier (def. 1).
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L pāstōrālis, equiv. to pāstōr-, s. of pāstor (see pastor ) + -ālis -al 1

Related forms:
pas⋅to⋅ral⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. rustic, rural, simple. 3. bucolic, idyllic. 7. eclogue, idyll; georgic.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To pastoral
pas·tor·al   (pās'tər-əl, pā-stôr'-, -stōr'-)   
adj.  

    1. Of or relating to shepherds or herders.

    2. Of, relating to, or used for animal husbandry.

    3. Of or relating to the country or country life; rural.

    4. Charmingly simple and serene; idyllic. See Synonyms at rural.

    1. Of or relating to the country or country life; rural.

    2. Charmingly simple and serene; idyllic. See Synonyms at rural.

  3. Of, relating to, or being a literary or other artistic work that portrays or evokes rural life, usually in an idealized way.

  4. Of or relating to a pastor or the duties of a pastor: pastoral duties; a pastoral letter.

n.  

  1. A literary or other artistic work that portrays or evokes rural life, usually in an idealized way.

  2. Music A pastorale.


[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pāstōrālis, from pāstor, shepherd; see pastor.]
pas'tor·al·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Cultural Dictionary

pastoral

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.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

pastoral  (adj.)
"of or pertaining to shepherds," 1432, from O.Fr. pastoral, from L. pastoralis, from pastor (see pastor (n.)). The noun sense of "poem dealing with country life generally" is from 1584. Pastorale (in the It. form) "musical composition representing pastoral scenes" is attested from 1724.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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