Dominie ( Wiktionary definition) is a Scots language and

Scottish English Scottish English is the set of varieties of the English language spoken in Scotland. The transregional, standardised variety is called Scottish Standard English or Standard Scottish English (SSE). Scottish Standard English may be defined ...

term for a Scottish

schoolmaster A schoolmaster, or simply master, is a male school teacher. The usage first occurred in England in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. At that time, most schools were one-room or two-room schools and had only one or two such teacher ...

usually of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

and also a term used in the US for a minister or pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church.

Origin

It comes from the Latin ''domine'' (vocative case of ''Dominus'' 'Lord, Master'). When the Church of Scotland began to introduce universal provision of

education in Scotland Education in Scotland is provided in state schools, private school, private schools and by individuals through homeschooling. Mandatory education in Scotland begins for children in Primary 1 (P1) at primary school and ends in Fifth Year (S5) a ...

after it became established as a

national church A national church is a Christian church associated with a specific ethnic group or nation state. The idea was notably discussed during the 19th century, during the emergence of modern nationalism. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in a draft discussing ...

in 1560, its aim was to have a university-educated schoolmaster in every

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

. The minister sometimes served as the dominie. Over time this came to be used as a term for a minister, schoolmaster or university student. In the United States and in South Africa the same word is used to describe a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

in the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...

References

Church of Scotland Education in Scotland Scots language Scottish English Titles Education and training occupations {{Scotland-edu-stub

Origin

See also

References