pastoral

[ pas-ter-uhl, pah-ster- ]

adjective

1. having the simplicity, charm, serenity, or other characteristics generally attributed to rural areas:

   pastoral scenery; the pastoral life.

   Synonyms: simple, rural, rustic

2. pertaining to the country or to life in the country; rural; rustic.
3. portraying or suggesting idyllically the life of shepherds or of the country, as a work of literature, art, or music:

   pastoral poetry; a pastoral symphony.

   Synonyms: idyllic, bucolic

4. of, relating to, or consisting of shepherds.
5. of or relating to a pastor or the duties of a pastor:

   pastoral visits to a hospital.

6. used for pasture, as land.

noun

1. a poem, play, or the like, dealing with the life of shepherds, commonly in a conventional or artificial manner, or with simple rural life generally; a bucolic.

   Synonyms: georgic, idyll, eclogue

2. a picture or work of art representing the shepherds' life.
3. Music. pastorale.
4. a treatise on the duties of a pastor.
5. a letter to the people from their spiritual pastor.
6. a letter to the clergy or people of an ecclesiastical district from its bishop.
7. Also called pastoral staff. crosier ( def 1 ).

pastoral

/ ˈpɑːstərəl /

adjective

1. of, characterized by, or depicting rural life, scenery, etc
2. (of a literary work) dealing with an idealized form of rural existence in a conventional way
3. (of land) used for pasture
4. denoting or relating to the branch of theology dealing with the duties of a clergyman or priest to his congregation
5. of or relating to a clergyman or priest in charge of a congregation or his duties as such
6. of or relating to a teacher's responsibility for the personal, as the distinct from the educational, development of pupils
7. of or relating to shepherds, their work, etc

noun

1. a literary work or picture portraying rural life, esp the lives of shepherds in an idealizing way See also eclogue
2. music a variant of pastorale
3. Christianity
   1. a letter from a clergyman to the people under his charge
   2. the letter of a bishop to the clergy or people of his diocese
   3. Also calledpastoral staff the crosier or staff carried by a bishop as a symbol of his pastoral responsibilities

pastoral

1. A work of art that celebrates the cultivated enjoyment of the countryside. The poem “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” by Christopher Marlowe, is a pastoral. Its first stanza reads:

   Come live with me, and be my love;

   And we will all the pleasures prove

   That hills and valleys, dales and fields,

   Woods or steepy mountain yields.

Derived Forms

• ˈpastoralˌism, noun
• ˈpastorally, adverb

Other Words From

• pasto·ral·ly adverb
• non·pasto·ral adjective noun
• non·pasto·ral·ly adverb
• semi·pasto·ral adjective
• semi·pasto·ral·ly adverb
• un·pasto·ral adjective
• un·pasto·ral·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of pastoral¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin pāstōrālis, equivalent to pāstōr-, stem of pāstor ( pastor ) + -ālis -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of pastoral¹

C15: from Latin, from pastor

Example Sentences

In an interview on the prize website, she described “Orbital” as a space pastoral and said she wanted to write a realistic, rather than fantastic, version of humans in low Earth orbit.

From Los Angeles Times

Writing it, Harvey said she "thought of it as a space pastoral - a kind of nature writing about the beauty of space".

From BBC

Typically, once calves reach six or eight months, they are weaned and sent to larger, industrial pastures to roam in vast herds, fattening on grass, though this pastoral interlude is a short one.

From Salon

Dame Esther said she was concerned that the most senior Catholic in England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, had issued a pastoral letter urging parishioners to take action with MPs.

From BBC

And it's in his gentle, almost calming, delivery you get a sense Buchan is a man who has pastoral powers of persuasion.

From BBC

Related Words

• agrarian
• bucolic
• idyllic
• rural
• rustic