Rector1. (n.) A ruler or governor.
2. (n.) 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.
3. (n.) A clergyman in charge of a parish.
4. (n.) The head master of a public school.
5. (n.) 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.
6. (n.) 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.
Thesaurus Entries
DD, Doctor of Divinity, Grand Penitentiary, Holy Father, Holy Joe, abbe, abuna, academic dean, administration, administrator, agent, antipope, archbishop, archdeacon, archpriest, bishop, bishop coadjutor, canon, cardinal, cardinal bishop, cardinal deacon, cardinal priest, chancellor, chaplain, churchman, clergyman, cleric, clerical, clerk, coadjutor, conductor, curate, cure, dean, dean of men, dean of women, deputy, diocesan, directeur, director, divine, ecclesiarch, ecclesiastic, exarch, governor, headmaster, headmistress, hierarch, high priest, impresario, intendant, man of God, manager, master, metropolitan, military chaplain, minister, padre, papa, parson, pastor, patriarch, penitentiary, pontiff, pope, prebendary, prelate, president, primate, principal, producer, provost, responsible person, reverend, rural dean, servant of God, shepherd, sky pilot, subdean, suffragan, supercargo, supply clergy, supply minister, the Reverend, the very Reverend, tonsured cleric, vicar, vice-chancellor