See Also: ministry(dictionary)
ministry(dictionary)
Ministry of Defence, the(dictionary)
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food(dictionary)

ministry (iou)



ministry noun. LME.
[Latin ministerium, from MINISTER noun.]
The action of ministering; ministration. Now rare exc. as passing into sense 2a. LME.
Tennyson My idea of heaven is the perpetual ministry of one soul to another.
b. A particular kind of ministration; a function, an office. LME-M17.
c. The condition or fact of being an agent or instrument; agency, instrumentality. Now rare. L16.
A. Phelps Heroic believers become such by the ministry of heroic pains.
Ecclesiastical.
a. The functions or a particular function proper or pertaining to a minister, priest, etc.; the action or an act of religious ministration. ME.
J. Swan A certain Priest..was suspended from his ministry.
b. collect. The clergy; the ministers of a Church, esp. the Established Church. Now rare. M16.
Andrew Thomson Patronage..was the most effective instrument of placing a hireling ministry in the pulpits.
c. The period of tenure of a particular minister. E17.
d. The clerical profession or calling; the office of minister of a church or congregation. E19.
D. Cupitt Being intended for the ministry he entered Strasburg University to study theology.
collect. The body of executive officers responsible for the functions of government or the law; now spec. the ministers responsible for the administration of a country or State. Also, the period of government under one Prime Minister. LME.
(Also Ministry.) A government department headed by a minister; the building occupied by a government department. L19.
Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of the Interior, etc.