pastoral : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: pastoral	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for pastoral
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
pastoral adj of or relating to a pastor; "pastoral work"; "a pastoral letter" relating to shepherds or herdsmen or devoted to raising sheep or cattle; "pastoral seminomadic people"; "pastoral land"; "a pastoral economy" Synonym(s): bucolic, pastoral (used with regard to idealized country life) idyllically rustic; "a country life of arcadian contentment"; "a pleasant bucolic scene"; "charming in its pastoral setting"; "rustic tranquility" Synonym(s): arcadian, bucolic, pastoral n a musical composition that evokes rural life [syn: pastorale, pastoral, idyll, idyl] a letter from a pastor to the congregation a literary work idealizing the rural life (especially the life of shepherds)
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Pastoral \Pas"toral\, a. [L. pastoralis: cf. F. pastoral. See {Pastor}.] 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} (Eccl.), 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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Pastoral \Pas"toral\, n. 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. (Mus.) 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 (Encyc. of Music). 3. (Eccl.) A letter of a pastor to his charge; specifically, a letter addressed by a bishop to his diocese; also (Prot. Epis. Ch.), a letter of the House of Bishops, to be read in each parish.