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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Administer

Ad·min'is·ter, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. ADMINISTERED; p. pr. & vb. n. ADMINISTERING.] [Fr. administrer, Lat. administrare, from ad and ministrare, to attend upon, serve; minister, servant, from manus, hand.] 1. To manage or conduct, as public affairs; to direct or superintend the execution or application of; as, to administer the government. For forms of government let fools contest: Whate'er is best administered is best. Pope. 2. To afford; to give; to supply; to furnish; to dispense; as, to administer relief, to administer medicine. Let zephyrs bland administer their genial airs. Phillips. Justice was administered with an exactness and purity not before known. Macaulay.

  1. To give or tender, as an oath. “Persons having authority to administer an oath.” Jacobs.
  2. (Law.) To settle, as the estate of one who dies without a will, or whose will fails of an executor.

Syn.—To manage; conduct; minister; supply; dispense; contribute.

Ad-min'is-ter, v. i.

verbintransitive
  1. To contribute; to bring aid or supplies; to add something. “A fountain . . . which . . . administers to the pleasure as well as the plenty of the place.” Spectator.
  2. (Law.) To perform the office of administrator; as, A administers upon the estate of B.