PASTORAL • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Pastoral

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/pˈæstərəl/ Listen

adjective

Pastoral adj.

1.

Of or pertaining to shepherds; hence, relating to rural life and scenes; as, a pastoral life.

2.

Relating to the care of souls, or to the pastor of a church; as, pastoral duties; a pastoral letter.

Pastoral staff (Eccl.), a staff, usually of the form of a shepherd's crook, borne as an official emblem by a bishop, abbot, abbess, or other prelate privileged to carry it. See Crook, and Crosier.

Pastoral Theology, that part of theology which treats of the duties of pastors.

noun

Pastoral n.

1.

A poem describing the life and manners of shepherds; a poem in which the speakers assume the character of shepherds; an idyl; a bucolic. "A pastoral is a poem in which any action or passion is represented by its effects on a country life."

2.

(Mus.) A cantata relating to rural life; a composition for instruments characterized by simplicity and sweetness; a lyrical composition the subject of which is taken from rural life.

3.

(Eccl.) A letter of a pastor to his charge; specifically, a letter addressed by a bishop to his diocese; also (Prot. Epis. Ch.), a letter of the House of Bishops, to be read in each parish.

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Etymology of 'Pastoral'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Pastoral" Quotes from Famous Books

... will say that in Spain, the class of individuals of both sexes destined to look after herds, appeared to me always less further removed than in France, from the pictures which the ancient poets have left us of the shepherds and shepherdesses in their pastoral poetry. The songs by which they endeavour to while away the tedium of their monotonous life, are more remarkable in their form and substance than in the other European nations to which I have had access. I never recollect without ...

— Biographies of Distinguished Scientific Men • Francois Arago

... This romantic pastoral is most instructive as to the high position which women really held among the people whose religious history is the foundation of our own, and still further substantiates our claim that the Bible does not teach woman's subordination. The fact that Rebekah was drawing water ...

— The Woman's Bible. • Elizabeth Cady Stanton

... to look at the nurses and babies; they imparted to the scene a kind of primordial, pastoral simplicity. "Yes," he said at last, "I suppose I am." And then, in answer to his companion's inquiries, he related briefly his history since their last meeting. It was an intensely Western story, and ...

— The American • Henry James

... scholars, and preacher to the largest regular congregation on the American continent. The great hall in Boston could seat four thousand people, and at his regular discourses every part of it was filled. In addition to his pastoral work he wielded a vast influence as a platform speaker, especially in opposition to the extension of slavery into the Territories of the United States, and as a lecturer on a wide range of vital topics; and among those ...

— History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom • Andrew Dickson White

... arguments, even talk of an insurrection of the natives, of their indolence, of inferior and superior races, of prestige and other humbugs, so that after much gossip and more recrimination, the permit was granted, Padre Salvi at the same time publishing a pastoral that was read by no one but the proof-reader. There were questionings whether the General had quarreled with the Countess, whether she spent her time in the halls of pleasure, whether His Excellency was greatly annoyed, ...

— The Reign of Greed - Complete English Version of 'El Filibusterismo' • Jose Rizal

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