Ministerial

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Ministerial \Min`is*te"ri*al\, a. [L. ministerialis: cf. F.
     minist['e]riel. See {Minister}, and cf. {Minstrel}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. Of or pertaining to ministry or service; serving;
        attendant.
        [1913 Webster]


  
              Enlightening spirits and ministerial flames.
                                                    --Prior.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Of or pertaining to the office of a minister or to the
        ministry as a body, whether civil or sacerdotal.
        "Ministerial offices." --Bacon. "A ministerial measure."
        --Junius. "Ministerial garments." --Hooker.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Tending to advance or promote; contributive. "Ministerial
        to intellectual culture." --De Quincey.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {The ministerial benches}, the benches in the House of
        Commons occupied by members of the cabinet and their
        supporters; -- also, the persons occupying them. "Very
        solid and very brilliant talents distinguish the
        ministerial benches." --Burke.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Official; priestly; sacerdotal; ecclesiastical.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  ministerial
       adj 1: of or relating to a minister of religion or the minister's
              office; "ministerial duties"
       2: of or relating to a government minister or ministry;
          "ministerial decree"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  67 Moby Thesaurus words for "ministerial":
     abbatial, abbatical, accessory, adjuvant, administrating,
     administrative, agential, agentival, agentive, ambassadorial,
     ancillary, archiepiscopal, assistant, assisting, auxiliary,
     bureaucratic, canonical, capitular, capitulary, churchly, clerical,
     conducive, consular, diplomatic, directing, ecclesiastic,
     employable, episcopal, episcopalian, evangelistic, executive,
     facilitating, favoring, forwarding, fostering, handy, helpful,
     helping, instrumental, intermediary, managing, mediating,
     mediatorial, ministering, ministrant, nurtural, nutricial,
     official, officiating, pastoral, plenipotentiary, prelatial,
     prelatic, presiding, priest-ridden, priestish, priestly, promoting,
     rabbinic, sacerdotal, serviceable, serving, subservient,
     subsidiary, supervisory, ultramontane, useful
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  MINISTERIAL. That which is done under the authority of a superior; opposed 
  to judicial; as, the sheriff is a ministerial officer bound to obey the 
  judicial commands of the court. 
       2. When an officer acts in both a judicial and ministerial capacity, he 
  may be compelled to perform ministerial acts in a particular way; but when 
  he acts in a judicial capacity, he can only be required to proceed; the 
  manner of doing so is left entirely to his judgment. See 2 Fairf. 377; Bac. 
  Ab. Justices of the Peace, E; 1 Conn. 295; 3 Conn. 107; 9 Conn. 275; 12 
  Conn. 464; also Judicial; Mandamus; Sheriff.