\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. [R.]
         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. [Scot.]
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.