What does Pastor mean?

The Shepherd — a genus of starlings whose flocking behaviour around livestock evokes a shepherd tending a flock

Literally: A shepherd, keeper

The genus name is the Latin noun pastor (nominative singular, masculine) used directly and unchanged as a one-word uninomial. No combining vowel or suffix is needed because the root itself is a complete Latin noun suitable for a genus name.

Pronunciation

• PAS-tor Two-syllable word: stress falls on the penult (Rule 1).

Other readings

past- (Greek: sprinkle / Latin: food) + -or could be read as 'one who sprinkles', but this is almost certainly wrong; the unambiguous Latin word pastor is the correct reading.

Pastor is an extant genus of starlings (Aves: Sturnidae), most famously the Rosy Starling (Pastor roseus). The name alludes to the birds' well-known association with grazing animals. The segmentations past- (Greek: sprinkle/food) and pas- (Greek: all) are both present as substrings but are almost certainly not intended; the whole word pastor is a complete, unambiguous Latin noun in the dictionary and is the correct analysis.