'Rector' means 'helmsman' — from Latin 'regere' (to guide straight), kin to 'royal' and 'regulate.'
The head of certain universities, colleges, or schools; a member of the clergy in charge of a parish; a leader or director.
From Latin 'rector' (a ruler, a guide, a helmsman), from 'rectus,' past participle of 'regere' (to rule, to guide, to keep straight), from PIE *h₃reǵ- (to move in a straight line, to direct, to rule). The core image is of someone who keeps things on a straight course — originally a helmsman steering a ship, later generalized to any director or governor. The same past participle 'rectus' (straight) gave English