REC'TOR, n. [L. rector, from rego, rectum, to rule.]
1. A ruler or governor.
God is the supreme rector of the world.
[This application of the word is unusual.]
2. A clergyman who has the charge and cure of a parish, and has the tithes, _c.; or the parson of an unimpropriated parish.
3. The chief elective officer of some universities, as in France and Scotland. The same title was formerly given to the president of a college in New England, but it is now in disuse. In Scotland, it is still the title of the head master of a principal school.
4. 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.
