min‧is‧ter 1 S1 W1 / mɪnəstə, mɪnɪstə $ -ər / 名词 [可数名词]

1 a politician who is in charge of a government department, in Britain and some other countries

minister of

the Minister of Agriculture

minister for

the Minister for Foreign Affairs

foreign/defence/finance etc minister

a meeting of EU foreign ministers

a senior Cabinet minister → prime minister

2 a priest in some Christian churches → pastor , vicar :

a Baptist minister

3 someone whose job is to represent their country in another country, but who is lower in rank than an ambassador

THESAURUS

priest someone who is specially trained to perform religious duties and ceremonies in the Christian church : a Catholic priest | a Buddhist priest | Women priests are much more common these days. | The priest who married us was very friendly and helpful.

bishop a priest of high rank in some branches of the Christian church, who is the head of all the churches and priests in a large area : the Bishop of Oxford | a meeting of bishops

vicar a priest in the Church of England who is in charge of a church in a particular area : our local vicar

preacher someone who gives the sermon (= a religious talk as part of a church service ) in some Protestant churches : a Methodist preacher

minister the formal word for any priest in some branches of the Christian church : In 1843, 450 ministers of the church broke away from the established church of Scotland.

chaplain someone, especially a priest, who takes care of the religious needs of an organization such as a college, hospital, prison, or the military : the prison chaplain

pastor American English someone who is in charge of the prayers, ceremonies etc in some branches of the Protestant church : a Baptist pastor

rabbi the person who is in charge of the prayers, ceremonies etc in the Jewish religion : Israel’s chief rabbis

mullah a Muslim teacher of law and religion : The people turned to their traditional leaders, the mullahs.

holy man someone who is treated with great respect by people who belong to a religion : A Sadhu, or Hindu holy man, was performing yoga on the banks of the River Ganges.

the clergy the official leaders in organized religions, such as the priests, rabbis, and mullahs : Around 30 members of the clergy gathered for the meeting.

clergyman a male member of the clergy – used especially in the past : His youngest son decided to become a clergyman.