preach

See also: preaçh and préach

English

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /pɹiːt͡ʃ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːtʃ

Verb

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.

   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.

2. (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, […]

3. (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 M^r preaches patience to him, […]

4. (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; […]

5. (intransitive) To give advice in an offensive or obtrusive manner.

Derived terms

• practice what one preaches, practise what one preaches
• preach down
• preacher
• preaching band
• preaching cross
• preaching friar
• preach in the desert
• preach to deaf ears
• preach to the choir
• preach to the congregation
• preach to the converted
• preach up
• preach water and drink wine
• preachy

 

Descendants

• → Kashubian: préczowac (United States)
• → Manx: preaçh

Translations

give a sermon

Arabic: خَطَبَ (ḵaṭaba), وَعَظَ (waʕaẓa) Moroccan Arabic: خطب (ḵṭab) Armenian: քարոզել (hy) (kʻarozel) Bulgarian: проповя́двам (bg) impf (propovjádvam) Chinese: Mandarin: 講道／讲道 (zh) (jiǎngdào) Czech: kázat (cs) impf Dutch: verkondigen (nl), preken (nl), prediken (nl) Esperanto: prediki (eo) Finnish: saarnata (fi) French: prêcher (fr) Georgian: ქადაგება (kadageba), ქადაგებს (kadagebs) German: predigen (de) Gothic: 𐌼𐌴𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (mērjan) Greek: κηρύσσω (el) (kirýsso) Ancient Greek: κηρύσσω (kērússō) Hungarian: prédikál (hu) Icelandic: predika Ido: predikar (io) Irish: seanmóir a thabhairt Old Irish: pridchaid Italian: predicare (it) Luxembourgish: priedegen Macedonian: проповеда (propoveda) Manx: preaçh, sharmanee Maori: kauhau, kauwhau Ngazidja Comorian: uhutuɓu Norwegian Bokmål: preke (no) Norwegian Nynorsk: preika Old English: predician Portuguese: pregar (pt) Romani: Kalo Finnish Romani: rakkavaa deevelesko lau, rikkavaa preediika Romanian: predica (ro) Russian: пропове́довать (ru) impf (propovédovatʹ) Scottish Gaelic: searmonaich Serbo-Croatian: propovijédati (sh) impf, propovédati (sh) impf Slovak: kázať impf Slovene: prídigati (sl) Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: prjatkowaś impf Spanish: predicar (es) Swedish: predika (sv) Walloon: pretchî (wa) Welsh: pregethu (cy)

proclaim by public discourse

Arabic: كَرَزَ (ar) (karaza) Aramaic: Classical Syriac: ܟܪܰܙ (kraz) Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: כְּרַז (kraz) Jewish Palestinian Aramaic: כְּרַז (kraz) Bulgarian: проповя́двам (bg) impf (propovjádvam) Chinese: Mandarin: 宣揚／宣扬 (zh) (xuānyáng) Coptic: ⲕⲏⲣⲩⲥⲥⲉ (kērusse) Finnish: saarnata (fi) French: proclamer (fr), prêcher (fr) German: predigen (de), verkündigen (de) Greek: Ancient Greek: κηρύσσω (kērússō) Modern Greek: κηρύσσω (el) (kirýsso) Irish: craobhscaoil Italian: predicare (it) Latin: praedicō (la) Polish: głosić (pl) impf, kazać (pl) impf Russian: пропове́довать (ru) impf (propovédovatʹ) Serbo-Croatian: propovijédati (sh) impf, propovédati (sh) impf Slovene: prídigati (sl) Spanish: predicar (es) Swahili: kutangaza

advise or recommend earnestly

Armenian: քարոզել (hy) (kʻarozel) Bulgarian: поучавам (bg) (poučavam) Chinese: Mandarin: 說教／说教 (zh) (shuōjiào) Czech: kázat (cs) Finnish: saarnata (fi) German: predigen (de) Hungarian: prédikál (hu) Icelandic: predika Italian: predicare (it) Macedonian: проповеда (propoveda) Portuguese: pregar (pt) Spanish: predicar (es) Swedish: predika (sv) Walloon: pretchî (wa), pirlodjî (wa)

See also

• praught

Noun

preach (plural preaches)

1. (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

preach

2. (slang) Used to express 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

• eparch, pearch