administer (administer)

[ For forms of government let fools contest, Whate'er is best administer'd is best. Pope, E ay on Man, iii. 304. Brawn without brain is thine: my prudent care Foresees, provides, administers the war. Dryden, Ajax and Uly es, 1. 554. 2. To afford; supply; dispense; bring into use or operation, especially in the execution of a magisterial or sacerdotal office: as, to admin is ter relief; to administer justice. Have they not the old popish custom of administering the ble ed sacrament of the holy eucharist with wafer cakes? Hooker. J. Philips. IMG:content-0274.png:[blocks in formation] 5. In law, to manage or dispose of, as the estate of a deceased person, in the capacity either of executor or administrator. See ad ministration, 9.=Syn. 1. To control, preside over. - 2 and 3. Administer, Minister, distribute, give out, deal out. In the sense of supplying, dispensing, minister is now used principally of things spiritual: as, to minister comfort, con solation, or relief; while administer is used of things both spiritual and material: as, to administer food, medicine, reproof, justice. He a erted that... a noxious drug had been admin istered to him in a dish of porridge. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xv. The greatest delight which the fields and woods minister is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable. Emerson, Nature. II. in trans. 1. To contribute a istance; bring aid or supplies; add something: with to : as, to administer to the nece ities of the poor. There is a fountain rising in the upper part of my garden, which administers to the pleasure as well as the plenty of the place. Spectator , No. 447. 2. To perform the office of administrator: with upon: as, A administers upon the estate of B. =Syn. Administer to, Minister to. Minister to is now preferable to administer to in such connections as to minister to one's needs, to minister to the nece ities of the poor, to minister to the pleasure of the a embly. Administer to in such connections is archaic.