lecture

[lek-cher]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lecture ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

Nearby words

Origin of lecture

1375–1425; late Middle English < Medieval Latin lēctūra a reading. See lection, -ure

SYNONYMS FOR lecture

1. address, talk, paper, oratim, discourse. 4. address, teach. 5. admonish; hector.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lecture ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formspre·lec·ture, noun, adjective, verb, pre·lec·tured, pre·lec·tur·ing.un·lec·tured, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lectured

It had been a year during which I had lectured at many colleges--mostly on education and civil liberties.
The Stacks: John Coltrane’s Mighty Musical Quest|Nat Hentoff|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I have been blessed to work with her, to learn from her, to travel with her, and even when needed, to be lectured by her.
Libyan Activist Pays Tribute To Slain Spiritual Sister|Anonymous|June 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Lisa Camooso Miller, a Republican strategist, lectured about “the new media reality.”
GOP Says ‘Hey Ladies’ But Little Else About Winning Women|David Freedlander|May 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He lectured the witness that the location of two ventilator fans was very important “because it will show you are lying.”
Pistorius’s Cross-Examination Could Have Been Grounds for a Mistrial in a U.S. Court|James D. Zirin|May 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST

As a grunt, he lectured a high-ranking officer in protest of Marines who attacked a Vietnamese child.
Crime Fighter’s Dilemma: My Country or My Family?|Moral Courage|April 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I had lectured the night before at Ironton, and on my way to Cleveland was to all intents and purposes marooned at Columbus.
From Pillar to Post|John Kendrick Bangs
The Professor, she said, hadn't got any imagination; you could tell from the way he lectured.
The Tree of Heaven|May Sinclair
The next few days we were drilled, lectured, and given our kit.
Adventures of a Despatch Rider|W. H. L. Watson
When Eylan was finished with him, Barrent went to a small, beady-eyed man who lectured on Earth's memory-destroying system.
The Status Civilization|Robert Sheckley
And Madame Mauperin, as she prepared for bed, lectured her husband upon acceding to all his favourite's whims.
The World's Greatest Books, Vol IV.|Editors: Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton

British Dictionary definitions for lectured

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 lectured

lecture

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

lecture

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.

lecture

noun

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

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

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Origin of lecture

Examples from the Web for lectured

lecture

noun

verb

Word Origin for lecture

lecture

lecture