ministerial
/ˌmɪnəˈstɪɹi.əl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.55 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
5
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Related to a religious minister or ministry.
adj
adj
Serving as an instrument or means (i.e., procedural or ancillary, not substantive).
noun
A meeting of government ministers from partner countries.
Example Sentences
- "In over a quarter of a century of writing this column, there has been no end of scandals, mishaps, errors and general cock-ups resulting from ministerial incompetence."
- "Filling out the form under the direction of a lawyer is a ministerial task performed by a legal secretary."
- "By the time of the Nibelungenlied the word was used to denote a wide variety of usually ecclesiastic or royal administrators, from the lowest, unfree ministerial to an enfeoffed judge."
- "The NATO ministerial was attended by the defence ministers of all member states."
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French ministeriel, equivalent to minister + -ial. Doublet of minstrel and ministerialis.