"preach" - Word of the Day from the OED

OED Online Word of the Day

Now available: the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary

This new print publication provides a unique resource for scholars researching linguistic and literary history, the history of the language, social history, and more. Read more and see a sample page.

"An indispensable tool for writers." –School Library Journal.

The updated Second Edition of the Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus is more exceptional than ever, solidifying its place as the one thesaurus writers at all levels will want to have. A perfect graduation gift!

---

preach, v.

DRAFT REVISION June 2010

Brit. /prit/, U.S. /prit/  Forms: eME preachi, eME prechi, eME prechie, ME preachest (2nd singular present indicative, in a late copy), ME prec, ME prece, ME prechy, ME preeche, ME preke (south-west.), ME preyche, ME priche, ME-15 prech, ME-15 preche, ME-15 preiche, 15 preache, 15 pretched (past tense), 15 pryche, 15- preach; Eng. regional 18- preych (Yorks.), 19- praych (Devon), 19- preeach (Cumberland); Sc. pre-17 preache, pre-17 preatch, pre-17 preche, pre-17 preich, pre-17 preitch, pre-17 presche, pre-17 pretch, pre-17 priche, pre-17 pritch, pre-17 17- preach, pre-17 18 prech, pre-17 18 preiche, 18 praech, 18 praetch, 18 praich, 18 preych, 18 prych, 19- praach (Aberdeenshire); also Irish English (north.) 19- prache, 19- praich. [< Anglo-Norman preecher, Anglo-Norman and Old French prechier, preechier, Anglo-Norman and Middle French precher, prescher, preschier (late 10th cent. in Old French aspretiet (past participle), prediat (3rd person singular past tense indicative); French prêcher, prescher) (transitive) to preach to (a person) (late 10th cent.), to deliver (a sermon) (end of the 11th cent.), to exhort, admonish, reproach (a person) (end of the 12th cent.), (in secular contexts) to proclaim (a thing), make (a thing) known (14th cent.; now obsolete in this sense), (intransitive) to deliver a sermon (first half of the 12th cent. in Anglo-Norman), to utter (especially moral) exhortation (late 12th cent.) < classical Latin praedicre to proclaim publicly, announce, in post-classical Latin also to preach (see PREDICATE v.).
  Post-classical Latin praedicare was borrowed at an early date into other Romance and Germanic languages. Compare Old Occitan predicar (c1150 or earlier), prezicar (a1188 or earlier; Occitan predicar, presicar), Catalan predicar (c1200), preïcar (13th cent.), Spanish predicar (c1200 or earlier), Portuguese pregar (13th cent. as preegar, preguar), (in learned form) predicar (14th cent.), Italian predicare (beginning of the 13th cent.). Compare also Old English predician (see PREDICATE v.), Old Frisian predikia (West Frisian preekje, with elision of the medial consonant), Middle Dutch prediken, (with elision of the medial consonant) prken (Dutch preeken, (in elevated style, e.g. biblical contexts) prediken), Middle Low German prdiken, prdeken, prdigen, prdegen, etc., also (with elision of the medial consonant) prken, Old High German predign (Middle High German predigen, German predigen), Old Icelandic prédika (Icelandic predika), Old Swedish, Swedish predika. The word is not found in Gothic, which uses mrjan (< the Germanic base of MERE adj.¹) or laisjan (see LERE v.).
  In Middle English prefixed and unprefixed forms of the past participle are attested (see Y- prefix).] 

    In trans. senses (other than 3) occas. with indirect object of the person preached to.

    1. intr.

    a. To deliver a sermon or religious address.

c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 38 Ne preachi e to namon..Seint pawel forbeot wummen to preachin [a1250 Nero prechen; ?c1225 Cleo. prechi]. c1250 in Englische Studien (1935) 70 343 Sein gregori prechede wid e guldene moue. a1300 Passion our Lord 258 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 44 Ofte in e temple ich wes iwuned to preche. a1393 GOWER Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) II. 3433 With gret devocion he precheth Fro point to point and pleinly techeth. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 175 Iesu crist..openlik bigan to preche [a1400 Fairf. preyche]. a1438 Bk. Margery Kempe I.167 Aftirward in Lenton prechyd a good clerk, a Frer Austyn. a1500 (?a1425) Antichrist (Peniarth) in R. M. Lumiansky & D. Mills Chester Myst. Cycle (1974) I. App. 503 Thrughe hym thowe preches and hast postye a whyle thrughe sufferaunce. 1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 45 Till all Creature for to preiche. a1586 W. DUNBAR Gen. Satire in W. A. Craigie Maitland Folio MS (1919) I. 211 Sic pryd with prelatis so few to preiche and pray. 1610 Bible (Douay) II. Isa. lxi. 1, He hath sent me to preach to the meek. 1644 MILTON Areopagitica 28 Christ urg'd it as wherewith to justifie himself, that he preacht in publick. 1697 W. BATES Acct. Life P. Henry in Wks. (1853) II. 674/1 He preached over the former part of the Assembly's Catechism, from divers texts; he also preached over Psalm 116. 1735 B. FRANKLIN Dialogue between Two Presbyterians 10 Apr. in Papers (1960) II. 31 Did not Luther at first preach only against selling of Pardons. 1762 J. WESLEY Let. 26 Nov. (1931) IV. 356 The first time I preached at Swalwell (chiefly to colliers and workers in the ironwork) none seemed to be convinced. 1794 W. BLAKE Little Vagabond in Songs Innoc. & Experience 14 Then the Parson might preach & drink & sing. 1814 J. AUSTEN Mansfield Park III. iii. 68, I could not preach, but to the educated. 1854 J. H. NEWMAN Lect. Hist. Turks III. ii. 168 The Greek clergy preached against them as heretics. 1891 T. HARDY Tess III. xlvi. 121, I have arranged to preach, and I shall not be there. 1915 L. M. MONTGOMERY Anne of Island v. 52 He mostly takes a text and preaches about something else. 1948 A. PATON Cry, Beloved Country I. xiii. 91 His friend Msimangu would preach this afternoon, in the chapel that he had seen. 2004 N.Y. Times 31 July A3/1 He came back with even stronger religious convictions and began preaching in the ground-floor activity room of his apartment block.

    b. To utter a serious or earnest exhortation, esp. a moral or religious one. Now usu. derogatory: to give moral or religious advice in a self-righteous, condescending, or obtrusive way.

c1395 CHAUCER Wife of Bath's Tale 247 Thow..prechest on thy bench with yuel preef. a1425 (?c1350) Ywain & Gawain 3489 If ou preche al day, Here sal ou nothing bere oway. 1523 LD. BERNERS tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. lxxxvii. 110 They were brought to his tent, and there they were so preched to that they tourned to sir Charles parte. 1604 SHAKESPEARE Hamlet III. iv. 117 His forme and cause conioynd, preaching to stones Would make them capable. 1722 D. DEFOE Moll Flanders 74 It is none of my Talent to preach; these Men were too wicked, even for me. 1754 S. RICHARDSON Hist. Sir Charles Grandison (1810) V. xxv. 168 Let us..when we are called upon to act a great or manly part, preach by action. 1806 T. C. METCALFE in Marquess of Wellesley Select. Despatches (1877) 807 To meet their ambition..with the language of peace, would be to preach to the roaring ocean to be still. a1834 S. T. COLERIDGE in P. G. Patmore Friends & Acquaint. (1854) I. 89 ‘Pray, Mr. Lamb, did you ever hear me preach?’ ‘Damme,’ said Lamb, ‘I never heard you do anything else.’ 1875 W. S. HAYWARD Love against World 45 Why do you preach to me in that manner? 1916 E. H. PORTER Just David xix. 250 There! That's preaching, and I didn't mean to preach. 1953 M. KENNEDY Troy Chimneys 14 A wife should listen when her husband preaches, however tedious he may be. 2004 Snoop Feb.-Mar. 27/2 We're not ones to preach, it could be just as difficult for them to find a good ‘siddhi saadhi’ lady.

    c. to preach to the converted and variants: to advocate something to people who already share one's convictions about its merits or importance. Also (orig. and chiefly U.S.) to preach to the choir.

1857 Times 6 Nov. 7/4 It is an old saying that to preach to the converted is a useless office, and I may add that to preach to the unconvertible is a thankless office. 1867 J. S. MILL Exam. Hamilton's Philos. (ed. 3) xiv. 319 Dr. M'Cosh is preaching not only to a person already converted, but to an actual missionary of the same doctrine. 1916 G. SAINTSBURY Peace of Augustans iii. 144 One may be said to be preaching to the converted and kicking at open doors in praising..the four great novelists of the eighteenth century. 1970 Washington Post 24 Sept. A27/2 Foster spoke yesterday before a packed Air Force Association seminar... Admitting that this was like ‘preaching to the choir’, he nevertheless went on to detail a rather gloomy view of declining U.S. defense capabilities. 1987 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald Amer. 28 June E2/1 The people behind some ‘Say No to Drugs’ programs admit they often draw a clean-cut crowd and may be preaching to the choir. 1996 Market Trader & Shopkeeper 11 Oct. 6/3 After the meeting I could not help thinking how easy it was to preach to the converted.

    2. trans.

    a. To proclaim, expound, or promulgate (a religious message, doctrine, etc.) by speaking in public. Also with clause as object.

a1300 (?a1250) Serm. (Trin. Cambr.) in Bull. Mod. Humanities Res Assoc. (1928) 2 107, I halse Iou..at gif men preche Iou godis word at no man ne make his herte hard tare ageines. c1300 St. Barnabas (Laud) 43 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 27 To prechi cristindom. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig. A. 11) (1887) 1528 Seinte peter..sende seint Marc e ewangelist in to egypt vor to preche en gospel at he adde imaked. c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Cor. i. 23 We prechen Crist crucified. ?c1430 (c1400) WYCLIF Eng. Wks. (1880) 188 Eche prest owi to do his myt, his wit, & his wille to preche cristis gospel. ?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) 1826 Cuthbert..Prechid to aim goddis worde. a1500 (c1400) St. Erkenwald 13 en prechyd he here e pure faythe. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. lxi. A, Y^e Lorde hath anoynted me, & sent me, to preach good tydinges vnto the poore. 1590 SPENSER Faerie Queene II. x. 53 Joseph of Arimathy, Who brought with him the holy grayle, they say, And preacht the truth. 1610 Bible (Douay) II. Psalms lxvii. 12 The Lord shall give the word to them that preach good tidings with great power. 1651 T. HOBBES Leviathan III. xli. 263 He was to preach unto them, that he was the Messiah. 1682 J. BUNYAN Holy War 227 They..will not only privately inform, but publickly Preach to the Corporation both good and wholsome Doctrine. 1760 W. LAW Of Justificat. by Faith & Wks. 30 To the Heathens..he preaches the same Doctrine. 1782 ‘J. H. ST. J. DE CRÈVECUR’ Lett. from Amer. Farmer xii. 306 Missionaries who have been sent to preach to them a Gospel they cannot understand. 1864 TENNYSON Sea Dreams 21 Not preaching simple Christ to simple men. 1891 T. HARDY Tess III. xlvi. 121 A poster whereon was printed the day, hour, and place..at which he..would preach the Gospel. 1916 C. S. HURGRONJE Mohammedanism iv. 165 Beduins whose outward appearance has as little changed as their minds since the day when Mohammed began here to preach the Word of Allah. 1949 V. S. REID New Day I. ix. 48 We pastors, whatever our failings, have never but preached the Word of God to the people. 1992 G. VIDAL Live from Golgotha xii. 118 This was when Jesus entered history, preaching the usual Reform Rabbi line.

    b. To set forth or teach (something) with earnest exhortation; to advocate or inculcate by discourse or writing; to exhort people to (an act, practice, etc.). Also with clause as object.

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Mark vi. 12 Thei..prechiden that men schulden do penaunce. a1425 (?a1400) CHAUCER Romaunt Rose 6181 [To] preche us povert and distresse, And fisshen hemsilf gret richesse. a1500 (c1340) R. ROLLE Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) cxxi. 8, I prechid pes, that neghburs & brethere be samynd in charite. 1523 LD. BERNERS tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. 136 [He] preched to theym that they shulde disheryte the erle Loyes. a1616 SHAKESPEARE Comedy of Errors (1623) V. i. 175 My M^r preaches patience to him. 1667 MILTON Paradise Lost XI. 723 And to them preachd Conversion and Repentance, as to Souls In prison. 1709 M. PRIOR Hans Carvel 47 At first He therefore Preach'd his Wife The Comforts of a Pious Life. 1749 J. CLELAND Mem. Woman of Pleasure II. 60 They occasionally preached pleasure, and lived up to the text. 1791 T. PAINE Rights of Man I. 77 Let..Mr Burke continue to preach his anti-political doctrine of Church and State. 1813 J. AUSTEN Pride & Prejudice III. xi. 198 The usual satisfaction of preaching patience to a sufferer is denied me, because you have always so much. 1875 B. JOWETT tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 47 He practised the lesson..which Hesiod only preached. 1943 G. GREENE Min. of Fear II. i. 138 It was all very well for Tolstoy to preach non-resistance: he had had his heroic violent hour at Sevastopol. 1989 Money Observer Jan. 17/1 Prince Charles could not be doing a better job for us than preaching that traditional architecture is what people want!

    c. to preach up: to commend, extol, or support by preaching; to speak in praise of. to preach down: to decry or oppose by preaching; to speak against; to put down or silence by preaching. Cf. TALK v. 9a.

1641 T. HEYWOOD Preparative Studie 4 If I be once inflam'd against thy Foes That would preach down thy worth in small-beer-prose. 1644 J. GOODWIN 10 [He] preacheth error up, and truth downe. 1656 D. DICKSON Sel. Pract. Writings (1845) I. 212 To preach up the glory of God's free grace. 1679 T. HOBBES Behemoth 167 The Presbyterian Preachers..by a long practis'd Histrionick Faculty, preached up the Rebellion powerfully. 1724 A. COLLINS Disc. Grounds Christian Relig. Pref. 56 Preaching down the receiv'd notions both of Jews and Gentiles. 1741 H. FIELDING Shamela Pref., A little Book..of which..no doubt, you have already heard mention..for we have made it our common Business here, not only to cry it up, but to preach it up likewise. 1750 J. MAYHEW Disc. Submission 51 These gentlemen generally preach down the doctrine of the imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity, as absurd and unreasonable. 1796 C. BURNEY Mem. Life Metastasio II. 190 It is easy to preach up fasting, upon a full stomach. 1828 SCOTT Fair Maid of Perth x, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. II. 279 Thou thyself shalt preach up the pardoning of injuries. 1855 TENNYSON Maud X. iii, in Maud & Other Poems 37 Last week came one to the county town, To preach our poor little army down. 1896 Jewish Chron. 15 May 10/1, I would ask them..to consider whether Zionism..really deserves to be preached down as a standing danger to Israel's progress. 1966 C. HILL Cent. of Revol. 14 A series of new canons which ordered the clergy to preach up the Divine Right of Kings. 1983 P. O'BRIAN Treason's Harbour v. 136 It has been preached down as a vanity, and as something leading to the knacker's yard. 2005 Philippine Daily Inquirer (Nexis) 23 June, He could laugh off a hoax and preach down a dictator.

    3. trans To address, exhort, or preach to (a person), esp. on a religious subject. Obs.

c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 1932 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 162 Seint thomas at Caunterburi..Stod and prechede al at folk. a1325 St. Mary Magdalen (Corpus Cambr.) 112 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S.-Eng. Legendary (1956) 306 Heo prechede e prince and is wif of god lawe. c1330 (?c1300) Amis & Amiloun (Auch.) 618 Artow prest oer persoun, Oer ou art monk oer canoun, at prechest me us here? c1395 CHAUCER Franklin's Tale 824 They prechen hire, they telle hire nyght and day That causelees she sleeth hir self. c1400 (a1376) LANGLAND Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr.) A. Prol. 56, I fond ere Freris..Prechinge e peple for profit of e wombe. a1450 (c1400) in D. M. Grisdale 3 Middle Eng. Serm. (1929) 66 Take non hede..of false profites..at cum to ow e cloyng o mekenes & holi leuyng for to teche or to preche ow. c1500 Melusine (1895) 196 How, sire knyght,..are ye come hither for to preche vs? 1523 LD. BERNERS tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. 576 The foles & outragious people..sayd howe they were preched inough. 1707 E. WARD Wooden World Dissected (1708) 45 He shall preach ye..about giving Cæsar his Due.

    4. trans. To deliver (a sermon or religious address or discourse); to utter as a sermon. In early use also more generally: to speak or utter publicly, to announce, proclaim (obs.). Also intr.

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1969) Isa. iii. 9 er synne as sodom ei precheden & hidden not. a1425 (c1385) CHAUCER Troilus & Criseyde (1987) II. 59 Koude he nevere so wel of lovyng preche, It made his hewe a-day ful ofte greene. c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn (1887) 119 Thoue it be no grete holynes to prech is ilk matere..it..Endurith for a while. 1483 CAXTON tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 174/1 Saynt austyn preched a glorious sermone & declared there to the kynge the crysten feythe openlye. c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 2207 When Priam hade his prologe preched to ende, Ector hym answarede. 1583 P. STUBBES Second Pt. Anat. Abuses II. sig. M1, Is it not lawfull for him to take monie in his cure for preaching funerall sermons? 1625 BP. HALL (title) A Sermon of publike Thancksgiuing preacht before his Ma^tie. 1707 E. WARD Wooden World Dissected (1708) 82 He cooks by the Hour-Glass, as the Parsons preach Sermons. 1715 D. DEFOE Family Instructor I. iii. 69, I had such a Lecture preach'd to me Yesterday by a little dear Infant. 1798 S. T. COLERIDGE Fears in Solitude 65 Words that even yet Might stem destruction, were they wisely preached. 1814 J. AUSTEN Mansfield Park I. xi. 233 A man..cannot go to church twice every Sunday and preach such very good sermons..as he does, without being the better for it. 1850 N. HAWTHORNE Scarlet Let. xii. 190 He preached a discourse which was held to be the richest and most powerful..that had ever proceeded from his lips. 1872 ‘M. TWAIN’ Roughing It xlvii. 334 ‘Now if we can get you to help plant him’. ‘Preach the funeral discourse? Assist at the obsequies?’ 1914 Daily News 7 July 6 My Scot one morning preached me a fiery sermon on the poetry of lawn tennis. 1958 Western Polit. Q. 11 202 We are caught..preaching a story which the simple ‘beep beep’ of Sputnik so eloquently denies. 1997 Church Times 11 July 12/2 Many a rousing sermon was preached in the hills by ministers.

    5. trans. To bring or put into or out of some specified state by preaching.

1616 B. JONSON Epicoene IV. iv. 120 in Wks. I, We had a Preacher that would preach folke asleepe still. 1682 A. BEHN Roundheads III. 19 Is this your Business Sir, to rail against my Cloaths, as if you intended to preach me into my Primitive Nakedness again? a1716 R. SOUTH Serm. (1823) IV. 427 He may preach his heart out.., and all to no purpose. 1773 R. GRAVES Spiritual Quixote I. III. i. 120, I think Mr. Whitfield might have preached you into better manners. 1826 T. HOOD Recipe for Civilization in Whims & Oddities 17 What reverend bishop..Could preach horn'd Apis from his temple? 1852 M. ARNOLD Empedocles on Etna I ii, These hundred doctors try To preach thee to their school. 1916 S. LEACOCK in G. Lynch & D. Rampton Canad. Ess. (1991) 24 Genial clergy of ample girth..are preaching him out of existence. 1985 Frederick (Maryland) Post 21 Sept. B5 President Woodrow Wilson..preached us into the delusion that we should go abroad for monsters to destroy.

To cancel this service, send a message to wotd@oed.com consisting of the text signoff oedwotd-l and leave the subject line blank . Alternatively, use this unsubscribe mail link.

Written requests to unsubscribe may be sent to:

Online Products
Oxford University Press
Great Clarendon Street
Oxford OX2 6DP
UK

Visit the OED's home page at www.oed.com

Copyright © Oxford University Press 2008

Oxford University Press (UK) Disclaimer

This message is confidential. You should not copy it or disclose its contents to anyone. You may use and apply the information for the intended purpose only. OUP does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this message. Any views or opinions presented are those of the author only and not of OUP. If this email has come to you in error, please delete it, along with any attachments. Please note that OUP may intercept incoming and outgoing email communications.