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pastoral

   Also found in: Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.02 sec.
pas·tor·al  (pstr-l, p-stôr-, -str-)
adj.
1.
a. Of or relating to shepherds or herders.
b. Of, relating to, or used for animal husbandry.
2.
a. Of or relating to the country or country life; rural.
b. Charmingly simple and serene; idyllic. See Synonyms at rural.
3. Of, relating to, or being a literary or other artistic work that portrays or evokes rural life, usually in an idealized way.
4. Of or relating to a pastor or the duties of a pastor: pastoral duties; a pastoral letter.
n.
1. A literary or other artistic work that portrays or evokes rural life, usually in an idealized way.
2. Music A pastorale.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pstrlis, from pstor, shepherd; see pastor.]

pastor·al·ly adv.

pastoral
Adjective
1. of or depicting country life or scenery
2. (of land) used for pasture
3. of or relating to a member of the clergy or his or her duties
4. of or relating to shepherds or their work
Noun
1. a literary work, picture, or piece of music portraying country life
2. a letter from a bishop to the clergy or people of his diocese [Latin pastor shepherd]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.pastoralpastoral - a musical composition that evokes rural life
musical composition, opus, piece of music, composition, piece - a musical work that has been created; "the composition is written in four movements"
2.pastoral - a letter from a pastor to the congregation
letter, missive - a written message addressed to a person or organization; "mailed an indignant letter to the editor"
3.pastoral - a literary work idealizing the rural life (especially the life of shepherds)
literary composition, literary work - imaginative or creative writing
eclogue, idyl, bucolic, idyll - a short poem descriptive of rural or pastoral life
Adj.1.pastoral - of or relating to a pastor; "pastoral work"; "a pastoral letter"
2.pastoral - relating to shepherds or herdsmen or devoted to raising sheep or cattle; "pastoral seminomadic people"; "pastoral land"; "a pastoral economy"
3.pastoral - (used with regard to idealized country life) idyllically rustic; "a country life of arcadian contentment"; "a pleasant bucolic scene"; "charming in its pastoral setting"; "rustic tranquility"
rural - living in or characteristic of farming or country life; "rural people"; "large rural households"; "unpaved rural roads"; "an economy that is basically rural"

pastoral
adjective 2. rustic, country, simple, rural, idyllic, bucolic, Arcadian, georgic (literary) agrestic
Translations
Spanish pastoral [ˈpɑːstərl] adjpastoral
French pastoral [ˈpɑːstərl] adjpastoral(e)
German pastoral [ˈpɑːstərl] pastor adj (Rel) [duties etc] → als Pastor
Italian pastoral [ˈpɑːstərl] adjpastorale

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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
It is a pastoral romance, in the general style of Italian and Spanish romances of the earlier part of the century.
To read one of his greater pastoral poems for the first time is like a day spent in a new country; the memory is crowded for a while with its precise and vivid incidents:--
As I once more shouldered my pack and went my way, the character of the country side began to change, and, from a semi- pastoral heathiness and furziness, took on a wildness of aspect, which if indeed melodramatic was melodrama carried to the point of genius.
 
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