preach
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
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]
Verb[edit]
preach (third-person singular simple present preaches, present participle preaching, simple past and past participle preached or (nonstandard) praught)
- (intransitive) To give a sermon.
- A learned local Muslim used to preach in the small mosque every Friday.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 26:
- 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.
- (transitive) To proclaim by public discourse; to utter in a sermon or a formal religious harangue.
- 1560, [William Whittingham et al., transl.], The Bible and Holy Scriptures Conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament. […] (the Geneva Bible), Geneva: […] Rouland Hall, →OCLC, Isaiah LXI:1, folio 304, recto, column 1:
- The Spirit of the Lord God is vpon me, therefore hathe the Lord anointed me: he hathe ſent me to preache good tidings vnto the poore, […]
- (transitive) To advise or recommend earnestly.
- c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 98, column 1:
- My Mr preaches patience to him, […]
- (transitive) To teach or instruct by preaching; to inform by preaching.
- 1801, Robert Southey, “The Ninth Book”, in Thalaba the Destroyer, volume II, London: […] [F]or T[homas] N[orton] Longman and O[wen] Rees, […], by Biggs and Cottle, […], →OCLC, page 149:
- The Spirits of the Dead, / Quitting their mortal mansion, enter not, / As falsely ye are preached, their final seat / Of bliss, or bale; […]
- (intransitive) To give advice in an offensive or obtrusive manner.
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
- → Manx: preaçh
Translations[edit]
give a sermon
|
proclaim by public discourse
|
advise or recommend earnestly
|
See also[edit]
Noun[edit]
preach (plural preaches)
- (obsolete) A religious discourse.
- 1939 May 4, James Joyce, Finnegans Wake, London: Faber and Faber Limited, →OCLC; republished London: Faber & Faber Limited, 1960, →OCLC:
- he make peace in his preaches and play with esteem
Interjection[edit]
preach
- (slang) Expressing strong agreement (as if encouraging somebody to continue speaking).
- Synonym: church
- - If you can't do the time, don't do the crime!
- - Preach!
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *deyḱ-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English doublets
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/iːtʃ
- Rhymes:English/iːtʃ/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English transitive verbs
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English interjections
- English slang
- en:Religion