preach

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See also: preaçh and préach

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English prechen, from Old French prëechier, precchier (Modern French prêcher), from Latin praedicō. Doublet of predicate.

The Latin word is also the source of Old English predician (“to preach”), Saterland Frisian preetje (“to preach”), West Frisian preekje (“to preach”), Dutch preken (“to preach”), German Low German preken (“to preach”), German predigen (“to preach”), Danish prædike (“to preach”), Swedish predika (“to preach”), Icelandic prédika (“to preach”), Norwegian Nynorsk preika (“to preach”).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /pɹiːt͡ʃ/
  • Rhymes: -iːtʃ
  • Audio (UK)
    		(file)

Verb[edit]

preach (third-person singular simple present preaches, present participle preaching, simple past and past participle preached or (nonstandard) praught)

  1. (intransitive) To give a sermon.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 3, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”  He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.
    A learned local Muslim used to preach in the small mosque every Friday.
  2. (transitive) To proclaim by public discourse; to utter in a sermon or a formal religious harangue.
  3. (transitive) To advise or recommend earnestly.
  4. (transitive) To teach or instruct by preaching; to inform by preaching.
    • 1801, Robert Southey, Thalaba the Destroyer
      The Spirits of the Dead, / Quitting their mortal mansion, enter not, / As ye are preached, their final seat / Of bliss, or bale.
  5. (intransitive) To give advice in an offensive or obtrusive manner.

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Noun[edit]

preach (plural preaches)

  1. (obsolete) A religious discourse.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Hooker to this entry?)

Anagrams[edit]

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