ministers

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of minister.

   Foreign ministers from a dozen countries signed the agreement.

   The town's two ministers led the joint service on Sunday.

   Note

   A regular plural that covers two very different worlds, the pulpit and the cabinet. Protestant ministers preach and give pastoral care. Ministers of state head government departments, and in diplomacy, ministers rank just below ambassadors. A modifier usually settles which is meant: foreign ministers, parish ministers. The same spelling also serves as the present-tense verb, so a bare 'ministers' can be either noun or verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of minister.

   The chaplain ministers to prisoners with patience and care.

   A good nurse ministers to her patients' comfort as well as their wounds.

   Note

   Here the verb usually takes to before whoever is served: she ministers to the sick, he ministers to a congregation. With no object at all, it can mean officiating in worship. An archaic transitive use meaning 'supplies' survives in older prose (a friend who ministers comfort). It is worth recognizing when reading but best not imitated in modern writing.

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