rector
noun
Simple meaning
A cleric with managerial as well as spiritual responsibility for a church or other institution.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rehkterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹɛktɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
In the Roman Catholic Church, a cleric with managerial as well as spiritual responsibility for a church or other institution.
In the Anglican Church, a cleric in charge of a parish and who owns the tithes of it.
A headmaster or headmistress in various educational institutions, e.g., a university.
In a Protestant church, a pastor in charge of a church with administrative and pastoral leadership combined.
A ghost town in Shannon County, Missouri, United States.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: In the Roman Catholic Church, a cleric with managerial as well as spiritual responsibility for a church or other institution.
Used this way, rector is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a religious use: it carries the weight of tradition and ceremony.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Religion/spirituality
- Historical writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Related to In the Roman Catholic Church, a cleric with managerial as well as spiritual responsibility for a church or other institution.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
An official residence provided by a church for its parson or vicar or rector.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.