preach
[preech]
- to proclaim or make known by sermon (the gospel, good tidings, etc.).
- to deliver (a sermon).
- to advocate or inculcate (religious or moral truth, right conduct, etc.) in speech or writing.
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- to deliver a sermon.
- to give earnest advice, as on religious or moral subjects or the like.
- to do this in an obtrusive or tedious way.
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Origin of preach
1175–1225; Middle English prechen < Old French pre(ë)chier < Late Latin praedicāre to preach (Latin: to assert publicly, proclaim). See predicate
Synonyms
See more synonyms for preach on Thesaurus.com5. advocate, profess, pronounce, expound.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for preach
Contemporary Examples
At Christianity Today, Peter Chin claims Christians should preach peace instead of bogging down in the particulars of race.
Priests often preach support for the regime to their congregations, many of whom loudly dissent.
In One Corner of Syria, Christmas Spirit Somehow Manages to SurvivePeter Schwartzstein
December 25, 2014
Sex and the City fans were right behind her, ready to preach.
Confessions of a Rom-Com Writer: Liz Tuccillo Talks ‘Sex and the City,’ ‘Take Care,’ and MoreKevin Fallon
December 5, 2014
We should partner with them to get the message across, have them at the table, and listen rather than preach.
Each step of the way, Booker has thrived on the philosophy that your actions matter more than what you preach.
Historical Examples
On most Sundays doth he preach here in the nave to all sorts of folk.
The Armourer's PrenticesCharlotte M. Yonge
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
An Explanation of Luther's Small CatechismJoseph Stump
Herr Pastor has other functions than to preach to the living.
Camps, Quarters and Casual PlacesArchibald Forbes
He continued to preach until he had reached his eighty-third year.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VI (of VII)John Greenleaf Whittier
My mother, my father, will preach a very different doctrine.
Alice, or The Mysteries, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
preach
- to make known (religious truth) or give religious or moral instruction or exhortation in (sermons)
- to advocate (a virtue, action, etc), esp in a moralizing way
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Word Origin
C13: from Old French prechier, from Church Latin praedicāre, from Latin: to proclaim in public; see predicate
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 preach
v.
at first in late Old English predician, a loan word from Church Latin; reborrowed 12c. as preachen, from Old French preechier "to preach, give a sermon" (11c., Modern French précher), from Late Latin praedicare "to proclaim publicly, announce" (in Medieval Latin "to preach"), from Latin prae "before" (see pre-) + dicare "to proclaim, to say" (see diction). Related: Preached; preaching. To preach to the converted is recorded from 1867 (form preach to the choir attested from 1979).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with preach
preach
In addition to the idiom beginning with preach
- preach to the converted
also see:
- practice what you preach
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.