Rector

How to spell rector

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce rector

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does rector mean?

1. nounA member of the clergy who has charge of a parish or church.
2. nounThe head or chief administrator of certain universities, colleges, or schools.

Rector in a sentence

• The village rector conducted the morning service on Saturday.

• The university rector signed the funding agreement on behalf of the institution.

• The new rector moved into the old stone parsonage beside the church.

• Students elected a new rector to represent them on the governing board.

Where does rector come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes straight from the Latin rector, meaning 'a ruler, governor, or guide', which was formed from the verb regere, 'to rule, to keep straight, to direct'. The same regere root runs through a whole family of English words: 'rectify' (to make right), 'direct', 'correct', and even 'regent' all share that idea of keeping something on a straight line. English took rector over in the late Middle Ages, by the 1300s, first for the priest who governed a parish and later for the head who governed a college or university. The literal sense of someone who 'keeps things straight' fits both a parish and an academic institution rather neatly. The spelling trap is the ending: although the word names a person, it keeps the Latin agent suffix -or rather than the more common English -er, exactly because it was borrowed whole from Latin rather than built in English.

How the word is built

• rect- (from regere: to rule, guide, direct)
• -or (agent noun: one who does)