# ministry

Pronunciation: US say "MIN-i-stree" /ˈmɪnɪstɹi/; UK

## Noun

1. A government department responsible for a particular area of public affairs, usually headed by a minister or official of equivalent rank.
   - Simple: A part of a government that takes care of one area, like health or money, led by a minister.
   - _The finance ministry released its annual budget on Monday._
   - _Several ministries were reorganized after the election._
2. Service, help or care given to others, especially spiritual or charitable work done as part of a religious calling.
   - Simple: Work done to serve and help others, especially spiritual or caring work done for a church or faith.
   - _The church's ministry includes visiting the sick and supporting refugees._
   - _Volunteers carry out a ministry of comfort in local hospitals._
3. The work, office, or profession of a religious minister, such as a pastor or priest.
   - Simple: The job and work of a religious leader, such as a pastor or priest.
   - _He left a career in law to enter the ministry and was ordained a priest at the age of forty._
   - _His ministry focused on counseling young families across the parish._
4. The entire group of government ministers, whether or not in cabinet, serving under a head of government such as a prime minister.
   - Simple: All the ministers who run the government together under a prime minister.
   - _The prime minister reshuffled his ministry following the by-election defeat._
   - _The entire ministry resigned when the coalition collapsed._
5. The body of ordained clergy in nonapostolic Protestant churches, considered collectively.
   - Simple: The pastors and other clergy of certain Protestant churches, taken as a group.
   - _Much of the denomination's ministry opposed the merger, and several pastors threatened to leave if it went ahead._
   - _The Methodist ministry debated the new guidelines on ordination._

## Origin

Latin "ministerium" passed into Old French as "menistere," and Middle English borrowed that word as "mynisterie." In its makeup it matches "minister" with the suffix "-y" added.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/ministry (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).