Definition of Pastoral

1. Noun. A musical composition that evokes rural life.


2. Adjective. Of or relating to a pastor. "A pastoral letter"
Partainyms: Pastor
Derivative terms: Pastor

3. Noun. A letter from a pastor to the congregation.
Generic synonyms: Letter, Missive

4. Adjective. Relating to shepherds or herdsmen or devoted to raising sheep or cattle. "A pastoral economy"
Exact synonyms: Bucolic
Partainyms: Shepherd, Shepherd

5. Noun. A literary work idealizing the rural life (especially the life of shepherds).
Generic synonyms: Literary Composition, Literary Work
Specialized synonyms: Bucolic, Eclogue, Idyl, Idyll

6. Adjective. (used with regard to idealized country life) idyllically rustic. "Rustic tranquility"
Exact synonyms: Arcadian, Bucolic
Similar to: Rural
Derivative terms: Arcadian

Definition of Pastoral

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

2. n. A poem describing the life and manners of shepherds; a poem in which the speakers assume the character of shepherds; an idyl; a bucolic.

Definition of Pastoral

1. Adjective. Of or pertaining to shepherds; hence, relating to rural life and scenes; as, a pastoral life. ¹

2. Adjective. Relating to the care of souls, or to the pastor of a church; as, '''pastoral''' duties; a '''pastoral''' letter. ¹

3. Noun. A poem describing the life and manners of shepherds; a poem in which the speakers assume the character of shepherds; an idyll; a bucolic. ¹

4. Noun. (music) 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. Moore ¹

5. Noun. (religion Christianity) A letter of a pastor to his charge; specifically, a letter addressed by a bishop to his diocese. ¹

6. Noun. (religion Christianity) A letter of the w:House of Bishops, to be read in each parish. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Pastoral

1. a literary or artistic work that depicts country life [n -S]

Medical Definition of Pastoral

1. 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, 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. Origin: L. Pastoralis: cf. F. Pastoral. See Pastor. 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." (Rambler) 2. A cantata relating to rural life; a composition for instruments characterised by simplicity and sweetness; a lyrical composition the subject of which is taken from rural life. 3., a letter of the House of Bishops, to be read in each parish. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Pastoral

pastises
pastizzi
pastless
pastmaster
pastness
pastnesses
pastophori
pastophorus
pastor
pastorage
pastorages
pastoral (current term)
pastoral care
pastoral counseling
pastorale
pastorales
pastorali
pastoralism
pastoralisms
pastoralist
pastoralists
pastorally
pastoralness
pastoralnesses
pastorals
pastorate

Literary usage of Pastoral

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1919)
"Thus the pastoral continued gathering to itself all the mechanical, poetical and human elements that led along the road to modern drama and opera, ..."

2. Literary Criticism from the Elizabethan Dramatists by John Tucker Murray, David Klein, Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin, William Winter, Rosamond Gilder, Felix Emmanuel Schelling, William Dean Howells, Mary Findlater, Jane Helen Findlater, Allan McAulay, William Randolph Hearst (1908)
"Originating in the Italy of the later Renaissance, the pastoral held its own in various forms in verse and prose, in Latin and Italian, from Sannazaro, ..."

3. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and (1911)
"The last pastoral drama in the i?th century was Settle's Pastor Fido (1677). ... A far better writer of pastoral than either is Gay, whose Shepherd** Week ..."

4. The Cambridge History of English Literature by Adolphus William Ward, Alfred Rayney Waller (1910)
"In 1614, his second pastoral tragicomedy for the queen, Hymen's Triumph, ... As the virile Elizabethan drama softened and degenerated, pastoral revived, ..."

5. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the by Charles George Herbermann (1913)
"The writings of the Fathers, from the Apostolic age onward, are replete with pastoral instruction. St. Ignatius of Antioch [AD 110 (Harnack)] scatters such ..."

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