administer
verbAU, UK /ədˈmɪn.ɪ.stə/ · CA, US /ədˈmɪn.ɪ.stɚ/
Etymology From Middle English administren, from Old French aminister, from Latin administrare (“to manage, execute”), from ad (“to”) + ministrare (“to attend, serve”), from minister (“servant”); see minister.
7 senses
To apportion out, distribute.
- [Let zephyrs] administer their tepid, genial airs.1708, [John Philips], “Book I”, in Cyder. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 3:
- Justice was administered between man and man with an exactness and purity not before known.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
To manage or supervise the conduct, performance or execution of; to govern or regulate the parameters for the conduct, performance or execution of; to work in an administrative capacity.
- For forms of government let fools contest: / Whate'er is best administered is best.1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC:
- Located in the northwestern side of the Black Sea, Snake Island, or called ostriv Zmiyinyy in Ukrainian and Insula Serpilor in Romanian, is currently administered by Ukraine but claimed by Romania.2006, Rongxing Guo, Territorial Disputes and Resource Management: A Global Handbook, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 224:
To minister (to).
- administering to the sick
- A fountain […] administers to the pleasure as well as the plenty of the place.1712 September 16 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “FRIDAY, September 6, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 477; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume V, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
Law To settle, as the estate of one who dies without a will, or whose will fails of an executor.
To give, as an oath.
- Swear […] to keep the oath that we administer.1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
Medicine, Sciences To give (a drug, to a patient), be it orally or by any other means.
- We administered the medicine to our dog by mixing it in his food.
Medicine, Sciences To cause (a patient, human or animal) to ingest (a drug), either by openly offering or through deceit.
- A noxious drug had been administered to him.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XV, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
- Derived terms
- administerer, administerial, administrable, administress, coadminister, maladminister, misadminister, overadminister, readminister, self-administer
- Related terms
- administration, administrative, administrator, route of administration