rector

See also: Rector

English

Alternative forms

• rectour (obsolete)

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English rectour, rector, from Old French rector, rectour and Latin rēctor.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛktɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛktə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛktə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: rec‧tor

Noun

rector (plural rectors)

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Rector (ecclesiastical)

Wikipedia

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Rector (academia)

Wikipedia

1. In the Anglican Church, a cleric in charge of a parish and who owns the tithes of it.

   Hypernym: cleric

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.

2. In the Roman Catholic Church, a cleric with managerial as well as spiritual responsibility for a church or other institution.

   Hypernym: cleric

3. (Eastern Orthodoxy, uncommon) A priest or bishop in the Orthodox Church who is in charge of a parish or in an administrative leadership position in a theological seminary or academy.

   Hypernym: cleric

4. In a Protestant church, a pastor in charge of a church with administrative and pastoral leadership combined.

   Hypernym: cleric

5. A headmaster or headmistress in various educational institutions, e.g., a university.
6. (Scotland) An official in Scottish universities who heads the university court and is elected by and represents the student body.

Derived terms

• lay rector
• missionary rector
• rector magnificus

Related terms

• rectorate
• rectorial
• rectory
• rectrix
• regular

Translations

cleric in charge of a parish

Armenian: ծխակեր (cxaker) Bulgarian: енорийски свещеник m (enorijski sveštenik) Dutch: predikant (nl) m, dominee (nl) m Finnish: kirkkoherra (fi) Hungarian: plébános (hu) Irish: reachtaire m Italian: parroco (it) m Macedonian: жу́пник m (žúpnik), па́рох m (pároh) Norman: recteu m (Jersey) Polish: proboszcz (pl) m Portuguese: reitor (pt) m Romanian: paroh (ro) m Russian: па́стор (ru) m (pástor) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: жу̑пнӣк m Roman: žȗpnīk (sh) m

headmaster or headmistress

Armenian: ռեկտոր (hy) (ṙektor) Bulgarian: ре́ктор m (réktor) Chinese: Mandarin: 院長 / 院长 (zh) (yuànzhǎng) Czech: rektor (cs) m Dutch: rector (nl) m, rektor m Esperanto: rektoro, rektorino (female) Finnish: rehtori (fi) (male or female) French: recteur (fr) m, rectrice (fr) f German: Rektor (de) m, Rektorin (de) f Greek: πρύτανης (el) m or f (prýtanis) Hungarian: rektor (hu), igazgató (hu) Indonesian: rektor (id) Irish: uachtarán m Italian: rettore (it) m, rettoressa f Kazakh: ректор (rektor) Macedonian: ре́ктор m (réktor), ре́кторка f (réktorka) Norman: recteu m (Jersey) Polish: rektor (pl) m Portuguese: reitor (pt) m, reitora f Romanian: rector (ro) m, rectoară f Russian: ре́ктор (ru) m (réktor) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: ре̏ктор Roman: rȅktor (sh) m Swedish: rektor (sv) c Turkish: rektör (tr)

Anagrams

• Corter

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin rēctōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [rəkˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [rekˈtoɾ]

• Audio (Central):

  (file)

Adjective

rector (feminine rectora, masculine plural rectors, feminine plural rectores)

1. ruling
2. guiding, regulating, directing

Noun

rector m (plural rectors, feminine rectora, feminine plural rectores)

1. rector
2. dean
3. ruler, director, head

Derived terms

• rectorat

Further reading

• “rector”, 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
• “rector”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “rector” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “rector” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin rēctor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɛk.tɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: rec‧tor
• Rhymes: -ɛktɔr

Noun

rector m (plural rectoren or rectors)

1. rector

Descendants

• Indonesian: rektor

Latin

Etymology

From regō (“to steer, to guide; to rule”) +‎ -tor.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈreːk.tɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈrɛk.t̪or]

Noun

rēctor m (genitive rēctōris, feminine rēctrīx); third declension

1. guide, leader
2. driver (of a horse, an elephant, a wagon, etc.)
3. director, ruler, master, governor
4. tutor, instructor, teacher, mentor

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	rēctor	rēctōrēs
genitive	rēctōris	rēctōrum
dative	rēctōrī	rēctōribus
accusative	rēctōrem	rēctōrēs
ablative	rēctōre	rēctōribus
vocative	rēctor	rēctōrēs

Descendants

• → Bulgarian: ректор (rektor)
• → Byzantine Greek: ῥαίκτωρ (rhaíktōr)
• → Dutch: rector
  • → Indonesian: rektor
• → English: rector
• → French: recteur
• → German: Rektor
• Italian: rettore
• → Norman: recteu (Jersey)
• → Old Irish: rechtaire
  • Irish: reachtaire
• Portuguese: reitor
• → Polish: rektor
  • → Russian: ре́ктор (réktor)
    • → Armenian: ռեկտոր (ṙektor)
• → Romanian: rector
• → Spanish: rector
• → Swedish: rektor

References

• “rector”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “rector”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "rector", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “rector”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the head of the state: rector civitatis (De Or. 1. 48. 211)
    

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin rēctor or German Rektor or French recteur.

Noun

rector m (plural rectori)

1. rector (headmaster in various educational institutions)

Declension

Declension of rector

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	rector	rectorul		rectori	rectorii
genitive-dative	rector	rectorului		rectori	rectorilor
vocative	rectorule			rectorilor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin rēctor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reɡˈtoɾ/ [reɣ̞ˈt̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: rec‧tor

Adjective

rector (feminine rectora, masculine plural rectores, feminine plural rectoras)

1. governing, directing

Noun

rector m (plural rectores, feminine rectora, feminine plural rectoras)

1. rector

Derived terms

• rectorado
• rectorar

Further reading

• “rector”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024