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.
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.
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.