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rector - 4 dictionary results

rec⋅tor

  [rek-ter]
Use rector in a Sentence
–noun
1. a member of the clergy in charge of a parish in the Protestant Episcopal Church.
2. Roman Catholic Church. an ecclesiastic in charge of a college, religious house, or congregation.
3. Anglican Church. a member of the clergy who has the charge of a parish with full possession of all its rights, tithes, etc.
4. the head of certain universities, colleges, and schools.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME rectour < L rēctor helmsman, ruler, leader, equiv. to reg(ere) to rule + -tor -tor

Related forms:
rec⋅to⋅ri⋅al  [rek-tawr-ee-uhl, -tohr-] , adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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rec·tor   (rěk'tər)   
n.   Abbr. R.
  1. A cleric in charge of a parish in the Protestant Episcopal Church.
  2. An Anglican cleric who has charge of a parish and owns the tithes from it.
  3. A Roman Catholic priest appointed to be managerial as well as spiritual head of a church or other institution, such as a seminary or university.
  4. The principal of certain schools, colleges, and universities.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin rēctor, director, from , rēctus past participle of regere, to rule; see reg- in Indo-European roots.]
rec'tor·ate (-ĭt) n., rec·to'ri·al (rěk-tôr'ē-əl, -tōr'-) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Rector

Rec"tor\ (r?k"t?r), n. [L., fr. regere, rectum, to lead straight, to rule: cf. F. recteur. See Regiment, Right.]

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 Oxford.

5. (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's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : rector
Spanish: párroco,
German: der, *die Pfarrer(in),
Japanese: 教区牧師
More Translations »

rector 
1387, from L. rector "ruler, governor, guide," from rect-, pp. stem of regere "to rule, guide" (see regal). Used originally of Roman governors and God, by 18c. generally restricted to clergymen and college heads. Rectory first recorded 1448 as "the benefice held by a rector;" of his residence, first recorded 1849.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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