Category:Rector

Rec"tor (rk"tr), n. Etym: [l., fr. regere, rectum, to lead straight, To rule: cf. F. recteur. See regiment, right.]

1. A ruler or governor.[R.] God is the supreme rector of the world. Sir m. Hale.

2. (a) (ch. of eng.) A clergyman who has the charge and cure of a Parish, and has the tithes, etc.; the clergyman of a parish where the Tithes are not impropriate. See the note under vicar. Blackstone. (b) (prot. Epis. Ch.)

Defn: a clergyman in charge of a parish.

3. The head master of a public school. [scot.]

4. The chief elective officer of some universities, as in france and Scotland; sometimes, the head of a college; as, the rector of exeter College, or of lincoln college, at oxford.

5. (r.c.ch.)

Defn: the superior officer or chief of a convent or religious house; And among the jesuits the superior of a house that is a seminary or College.