v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Administered p. pr. & vb. n. Administering. ] [ OE. aministren, OF. aministrer, F. administer, fr. L. administrare; ad + ministrare to serve. See Minister. ] 1. To manage or conduct, as public affairs; to direct or superintend the execution, application, or conduct of; as, to administer the government or the state. [ 1913 Webster ]

For forms of government let fools contest:
Whate'er is best administered is best. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To dispense; to serve out; to supply; execute; as, to administer relief, to administer the sacrament. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Let zephyrs ] administer their tepid, genial airs. Philips. [ 1913 Webster ]

Justice was administered with an exactness and purity not before known. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To apply, as medicine or a remedy; to give, as a dose or something beneficial or suitable. Extended to a blow, a reproof, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

A noxious drug had been administered to him. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To tender, as an oath. [ 1913 Webster ]

Swear . . . to keep the oath that we administer. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Law) To settle, as the estate of one who dies without a will, or whose will fails of an executor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To manage; conduct; minister; supply; dispense; give out; distribute; furnish. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To contribute; to bring aid or supplies; to conduce; to minister. [ 1913 Webster ]

A fountain . . . administers to the pleasure as well as the plenty of the place. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) To perform the office of administrator; to act officially; as, A administers upon the estate of B. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Administrator. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to administration, or to the executive part of government. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. ministre, F. ministre, fr. L. minister, orig. a double comparative from the root of minor less, and hence meaning, an inferior, a servant. See 1st Minor, and cf. Master, Minstrel. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A servant; a subordinate; an officer or assistant of inferior rank; hence, an agent, an instrument. [ 1913 Webster ]

Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua. Ex. xxiv. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

I chose
Camillo for the minister, to poison
My friend Polixenes. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An officer of justice. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I cry out the on the ministres, quod he,
That shoulde keep and rule this cité. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One to whom the sovereign or executive head of a government intrusts the management of affairs of state, or some department of such affairs. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ministers to kings, whose eyes, ears, and hands they are, must be answerable to God and man. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A representative of a government, sent to the court, or seat of government, of a foreign nation to transact diplomatic business. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Ambassadors are classed (in the diplomatic sense) in the first rank of public ministers, ministers plenipotentiary in the second. “The United States diplomatic service employs two classes of ministers, -- ministers plenipotentiary and ministers resident.” Abbott. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. One who serves at the altar; one who performs sacerdotal duties; the pastor of a church duly authorized or licensed to preach the gospel and administer the sacraments. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Delegate; official; ambassador; clergyman; parson; priest. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Ministered p. pr. & vb. n. Ministering. ] [ OE. ministren, OF. ministrer, fr. L. ministrare. See Minister, n. ] To furnish or apply; to afford; to supply; to administer. [ 1913 Webster ]

He that ministereth seed to the sower. 2 Cor. ix. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

We minister to God reason to suspect us. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To act as a servant, attendant, or agent; to attend and serve; to perform service in any office, sacred or secular. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. Matt. xx. 28. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To supply or to things needful; esp., to supply consolation or remedies; as, to minister to the sick. Matt. xxv. 44. [ 1913 Webster ]

Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. ministerialis: cf. F. ministériel. See Minister, and cf. Minstrel. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Of or pertaining to ministry or service; serving; attendant. [ 1913 Webster ]

Enlightening spirits and ministerial flames. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to the office of a minister or to the ministry as a body, whether civil or sacerdotal. “Ministerial offices.” Bacon. “A ministerial measure.” Junius. “Ministerial garments.” Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Tending to advance or promote; contributive. “Ministerial to intellectual culture.” De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

The ministerial benches, the benches in the House of Commons occupied by members of the cabinet and their supporters; -- also, the persons occupying them. “Very solid and very brilliant talents distinguish the ministerial benches.” Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Official; priestly; sacerdotal; ecclesiastical. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A supporter of the ministers, or the party in power. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a ministerial manner; in the character or capacity of a minister. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Ministry. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. subministrare, subministratum. See Sub-, and Ministre, v. t. ] To supply; to afford. [ Obs. ] Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To be subservient; to be useful. [ Obs. ] “Our passions . . . subminister to the best and worst purposes.” L'EStrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To serve, or minister to, in a subordinate relation. [ Obs. ] Wyclif. [ 1913 Webster ]