menester

Catalan

Alternative forms

• mester

Etymology

Inherited from Latin ministerium. Short form mester via Vulgar Latin *misterium (compare French métier).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [mə.nəsˈte]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [me.nesˈteɾ]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

menester m (plural menesters)

1. office, occupation

   Synonyms: ofici, ocupació

2. necessity, duty

   ser menester (de/que …) ― to be necessary

   és menester (d')anar ― it's necessary to go

   és menester que mengis ― it's necessary that you eat

Derived terms

• haver de menester (“to need”)

Further reading

• “menester” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “menester”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “menester”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007