Rec"tor (r?k"t?r), n. [L., fr. regere, rectum, to lead straight, to rule: cf. F. recteur. See Regiment, Right.]
1. A ruler or governor. [R.]
God is the supreme rector of the world.
Sir M. Hale.
2. (a) Ch. of Eng. 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. See the Note under Vicar. Blackstone. (b) Prot. Epis. Ch. A clergyman in charge of a parish.
3. The head master of a public school. [Scot.]
4. 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.
5. R.C.CH. 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.
© Webster 1913. | 
