homiletics

H4O1M3I1L1E1T1I1C3S1

noun

The art of preaching (especially the application of rhetoric in theology).

OriginAncient Greek ὁμιλητική →
UncommonScrabble 17
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Meanings

nounhomiletics (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe art of preaching (especially the application of rhetoric in theology).

    Thus theology got on its legs, both as a science and as an art, and with it its faithful handmaiden, homiletics.

    1930, H. L. Mencken, Treatise on the Gods
    1 more example

    We will consider first what is common to Rhetoric and Homiletics, then what is special to the latter. Rhetoric is the genus, Homiletics the species.

    1854, A. Vinet, Homiletics; or, The Theory of Preaching

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekὁμιλητική
  2. Englishhomiletics

From Ancient Greek ὁμιλητική (homilētikḗ). Compare ὅμιλος (hómilos, “crowd, throng”), ὁμῑλέω (homīléō, “to be with, to talk”), and ομιλώ (omilṓ, “to talk”).

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French homilétique
  • homilétiqueart of preaching
German Homiletik
  • Homiletikart of preaching
Hungarian homiletika
  • homiletikaart of preaching
Indonesian homiletik, homiletika
  • homiletikart of preaching
  • homiletikaart of preaching
Italian omiletica
  • omileticaart of preaching
Polish homiletyka
  • homiletykaart of preaching
Portuguese homilética
  • homiléticaart of preaching
Swedish homiletik
  • homiletikart of preaching

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Mesolithic
Cite this entry
APA

homiletics. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homiletics

MLA

“homiletics.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homiletics. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “homiletics,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homiletics.

Source: homiletics on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.