Ministracioun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of tending to or helping others in need, especially through religious service or care ; the performing of a sacred rite or the carrying out of an official church duty
2. Assistance and attention offered to people, often in a spiritual sense ; the conducting of sacraments or the managing of duties entrusted to a clergy member
3. Aid and service rendered to those who need it, typically within a religious setting ; the formal administering of a church rite or the discharge of an ecclesiastical office

Etymology: "Ministracioun" is a Middle English spelling of "ministration," the act of serving, attending to, or supplying something to someone. It was borrowed from Old French "ministration," which came from Latin "ministratio," a noun built on "ministrare," "to serve, attend to," itself derived from "minister," a servant or attendant. The Latin "minister" originally meant a lower-ranking helper, and the same root gave English "minister" in both its religious and governmental senses. The spelling with "-cioun" reflects the Anglo-Norman and Middle English pronunciation of the French-derived ending "-tion" (roughly "see-oon"), and the word appears in English texts from the late 1300s onward, most often in religious writing about serving the sacraments or giving spiritual aid. Later writers used it for the supplying of material needs, such as the ministration of food or medicine to the sick.