Hypertext Webster Gateway: "pastoral"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Pastoral \Pas"tor*al\, 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"tor*al\, 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.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

pastoral
adj 1: of or relating to a pastor; "pastoral work"; "a pastoral
letter"
2: relating to shepherds or herdsmen or devoted to raising
sheep or cattle; "pastoral seminomadic people"; "pastoral
land"; "a pastoral economy" [syn: {bucolic}]
3: used of idealized country life; "a country life of arcadian
contentment"; "a pleasant bucolic scene"; "charming in its
pastoral setting"; "rustic tranquility" [syn: {arcadian},
{bucolic}, {rustic}]
4: suggestive of an idyll; charmingly simple and serene; "his
idyllic life in Tahiti"; "the pastoral legends of
America's Golden Age" [syn: {idyllic}]
n 1: a musical composition that evokes rural life [syn: {pastorale},
{idyll}]
2: a letter from a pastor to the congregation
3: a literary work idealizing the rural life (especially the
life of shepherds)


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