Pastorally

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a manner characterized by the roles of spiritual guidance and community service
2. In a way connected to countryside life and peaceful rural settings ; in a manner related to the duties of a religious leader
3. Reflecting the qualities or atmosphere of the countryside, often tranquil and simple ; done in the role of providing spiritual care

Etymology: "Pastorally" is a plain formation: the adjective "pastoral" with the suffix "-ly" added to turn it into an adverb. The adjective itself comes from Latin "pastoralis", meaning "of shepherds," from "pastor", a herdsman, which is tied to "pascere", "to feed" or "to graze." Through that link, a word for a shepherd's work came to describe the peaceful rural scenes poets loved to paint. The suffix has a long ancestry of its own. "-ly" descends from Old English "-līc", a word-forming element meaning "having the form of" or "like," which is itself related to the noun "lic", meaning "body." So "pastorally" literally carries the sense "in the manner of a shepherd" or "in the manner of the pastoral."

Synonyms: rurally, countrified, agrarian, rustically, idyllically