minister

Etymology 1

From Middle English ministre, from Old French ministre, from Latin minister (“an attendant, servant, assistant, a priest's assistant or other under official”), from minor (“less”) + -ter; see minor. Doublet of Minorite.

noun

1. (religion) A person who is trained to preach, to perform religious ceremonies, and to afford pastoral care at a Protestant church.
   The minister said a prayer on behalf of the entire congregation.
2. (government) A politician who heads a ministry
   He was newly appointed to be Minister of the Interior.
   Ministers to kings, whose eyes, ears, and hands they are, must be answerable to God and man. 1661 (first printed), Francis Bacon, A Letter of Advice to the Duke of Buckingham
3. In diplomacy, the rank of diplomat directly below ambassador.
4. A servant; a subordinate; an officer or assistant of inferior rank; hence, an agent, an instrument.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle English mynystren, from Middle French ministrer, from Old French menistrer, ministrer and Latin ministrō, from minister.

verb

1. (transitive) To attend to (the needs of); to tend; to take care (of); to give aid; to give service.
2. (intransitive) To function as a clergyman or as the officiant in church worship.
3. (transitive, archaic) To afford, to give, to supply.