pastoral: Meaning and Definition of

pas•to•ral

1. having the simplicity, charm, serenity, or other characteristics generally attributed to rural areas: pastoral scenery; the pastoral life.
2. pertaining to the country or to life in the country; rural; rustic.
3. portraying or suggesting idyllically the life of shepherds or of the country, as a work of literature, art, or music: pastoral poetry; a pastoral symphony.
4. of, pertaining to, or consisting of shepherds.
5. of or pertaining to a pastor or the duties of a pastor: pastoral visits to a hospital.
6. used for pasture, as land.

1. a poem, play, or the like, dealing with the life of shepherds, commonly in a conventional or artificial manner, or with simple rural life generally; a bucolic.
2. a picture or work of art representing the shepherds' life.
3. pastorale.
4. a treatise on the duties of a pastor.
5. a letter to the people from their spiritual pastor.
6. a letter to the clergy or people of an ecclesiastical district from its bishop.
7. Also calledcrosier (def. 1).