sermon
Americannoun
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a discourse for the purpose of religious instruction or exhortation, especially one based on a text of Scripture and delivered by a member of the clergy as part of a religious service.
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any serious speech, discourse, or exhortation, especially on a moral issue.
- Synonyms:
- lecture
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a long, tedious speech.
noun
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an address of religious instruction or exhortation, often based on a passage from the Bible, esp one delivered during a church service
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a written version of such an address
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a serious speech, esp one administering reproof
Other Word Forms
- sermonic adjective
- sermonless adjective
Etymology
Origin of sermon
1150–1200; Middle English < Medieval Latin sermōn- (stem of sermō ) speech from pulpit, Latin: discourse, equivalent to ser- (base of serere to link up, organize) + -mōn- noun suffix
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His meticulous survey takes in dozens of sources, from the obscure to the well-known: pamphlets to legal codes, sermons to atlases, maps, travel narratives, even journals kept by ships’ captains.
Roth, in Mr. Zipperstein’s telling, probed Jewish life—and its collision with American ambition—with more fidelity than any rabbinic sermon could offer.
In practice, contemporary house churches might gather in parks for Olympic-style race walking sessions, listen to a sermon on their headphones, and discuss it as they finished.
Then in September, authorities announced a new online code of conduct for religious personnel, which only allows online sermons to be conducted by licensed groups.
From BBC
Still the church continued to gather in small groups and shared its sermons online.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
