English Language & Usage Asked by The Double A on July 28, 2021
In some British Commonwealth countries, e.g. Singapore, government ministries are named "Ministry of", as in "Ministry of Defence". However, the title of the minister in charge is "Minister for", as in "Minister for Defence". Australia and Scotland are two other governments which use "Minister for".
In other countries, such as Canada, it is "Minister of". New Zealand is the most quirky, with an even mix of "Minister for" and "Minister of".
Why I know that semantically, as an earlier question answered, there is no difference in usage, does anyone know how the term "Minister for" came about? Why was it not consistently "Minister of" just like "Ministry of"?
Upon further research, I seem to have found the answer. The term "minister" in the political sense of "a person appointed by a sovereign as the responsible head of a department" dates from the 1620s. The ministers of the crown, as they were called, were appointed by the sovereign to oversee, on his behalf, the duties and affairs they were appointed to, hence they were ministers (acting on behalf of the crown) for those duties or with responsibility for those duties. The word "minister" is also derived by the Latin root "minus" or "minor", meaning "servant" or "subordinate".
The term "ministry" itself, referring to a government department, only began to be used in 1916, with the earliest usage in a political sense (as opposed to a religious sense) in 1710. The ministry is a government department in charge of a certain sector of government, which is why it is a "ministry of", because their scope of work pertains to those duties, rather than acting on behalf of the crown to be responsible for those duties.
Answered by The Double A on July 28, 2021
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