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lecture

[lek-cher]
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noun

a speech read or delivered before an audience or class, especially for instruction or to set forth some subject: a lecture on Picasso's paintings.
a speech of warning or reproof as to conduct; a long, tedious reprimand.

verb (used without object), lec·tured, lec·tur·ing.

to give a lecture or series of lectures: He spent the year lecturing to various student groups.

verb (used with object), lec·tured, lec·tur·ing.

to deliver a lecture to or before; instruct by lectures.
to rebuke or reprimand at some length: He lectured the child regularly but with little effect.

Origin of lecture

1375–1425; late Middle English < Medieval Latin lēctūra a reading. See lection, -ure
Related formspre·lec·ture, noun, adjective, verb, pre·lec·tured, pre·lec·tur·ing.un·lec·tured, adjective

Synonyms for lecture

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lecture ON THESAURUS.COM
1. address, talk, paper, oratim, discourse. 4. address, teach. 5. admonish; hector.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for lecture

discourse, instruction, address, sermon, expound, teach, admonish, scold, chide, preach, spiel, allocution, disquisition, pitch, harangue, talk, oration, soapbox, rebuke, scolding

Examples from the Web for lecture

Contemporary Examples of lecture

Historical Examples of lecture

British Dictionary definitions for lecture

lecture

noun

a discourse on a particular subject given or read to an audience
the text of such a discourse
a method of teaching by formal discourse
a lengthy reprimand or scolding

verb

to give or read a lecture (to an audience or class)
(tr) to reprimand at length

Word Origin for lecture

C14: from Medieval Latin lectūra reading, from legere to read
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for lecture
n.

late 14c., "action of reading, that which is read," from Medieval Latin lectura "a reading, lecture," from Latin lectus, past participle of legere "to read," originally "to gather, collect, pick out, choose" (cf. election), from PIE *leg- "to pick together, gather, collect" (cf. Greek legein "to say, tell, speak, declare," originally, in Homer, "to pick out, select, collect, enumerate;" lexis "speech, diction;" logos "word, speech, thought, account;" Latin lignum "wood, firewood," literally "that which is gathered").

To read is to "pick out words." Meaning "action of reading (a lesson) aloud" is from 1520s. That of "a discourse on a given subject before an audience for purposes of instruction" is from 1530s.

v.

1580s, from lecture (n.). Meaning "to address severely and at length" is from 1706. Related: Lectured; lecturing.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper