Meanings
present singular third person preaches · participle present preaching · participle past preached · past preached · nonstandard participle past praught · nonstandard past praught
- intransitiveTo give a sermon.
Our pastor can preach very well.
1 more example
One saint’s day in mid-term a certain newly-appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.” He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.
1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 26 - transitiveTo proclaim by public discourse; to utter in a sermon or a formal religious harangue.
The Spirit of the Lord God is vpon me, therefore hathe the Lord anointed me: he hathe ſent me to preache good tidings vnto the poore,[…]
1560, [William Whittingham et al., transl.], The Bible and Holy Scriptures Conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament. […] (the Geneva Bible), Geneva: […] Rouland Hall, →OCLC, Isaiah LXI:1, folio 304, recto, column 1 - transitiveTo advise or recommend earnestly.
My Mʳ preaches patience to him,[…]
c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 98, column 1 - transitiveTo teach or instruct by preaching; to inform by preaching.
The Spirits of the Dead, / Quitting their mortal mansion, enter not, / As falsely ye are preached, their final seat / Of bliss, or bale;[…]
1801, Robert Southey, “The Ninth Book”, in Thalaba the Destroyer, volume II, London: […] [F]or T[homas] N[orton] Longman and O[wen] Rees, […], by Biggs and Cottle, […], →OCLC, page 149
Synonyms & antonyms
interjectionUsed to express strong agreement (as if encouraging somebody to continue speaking).
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpraedicō“to proclaim, announce”
- Old Frenchprëechier
- Middle Englishprechen
- Englishpreach
From Middle English prechen, from Old French prëechier, precchier (Modern French prêcher), from Latin praedicō (“to proclaim, announce”, literally “to fore-assign, pre-dedicate”). Doublet of predicate. The Latin word is also the source of Old English predician (“to preach”), Saterland Frisian preetje (“to preach”), West Frisian preekje (“to preach”), Dutch preken (“to preach”), German Low German preken (“to preach”), German predigen (“to preach”), Danish prædike (“to preach”), Swedish predika (“to preach”), Icelandic prédika (“to preach”), Norwegian Nynorsk preika (“to preach”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek κηρύσσω, κηρύσσω
- κηρύσσω (kērússō)give a sermon
- κηρύσσω (kērússō)proclaim by public discourse
Arabic خَطَبَ, وَعَظَ
- خَطَبَ (ḵaṭaba)give a sermon
- وَعَظَ (waʕaẓa)give a sermon
- كَرَزَ (karaza)proclaim by public discourse
Bulgarian проповя́двам, проповя́двам
- проповя́двам (propovjádvam)give a sermon
- проповя́двам (propovjádvam)proclaim by public discourse
- поучавам (poučavam)advise or recommend earnestly
Chinese Mandarin 講道 /讲道, 宣揚 /宣扬
- 講道 /讲道 (jiǎngdào)give a sermon
- 宣揚 /宣扬 (xuānyáng)proclaim by public discourse
- 說教 /说教 (shuōjiào)advise or recommend earnestly
Czech kázat, kázat
- kázatgive a sermon
- kázatadvise or recommend earnestly
Dutch verkondigen, preken
- verkondigengive a sermon
- prekengive a sermon
- predikengive a sermon
Esperanto prediki
- predikigive a sermon
Finnish saarnata, saarnata
- saarnatagive a sermon
- saarnataproclaim by public discourse
- saarnataadvise or recommend earnestly
French prêcher, proclamer
- prêchergive a sermon
- proclamerproclaim by public discourse
- prêcherproclaim by public discourse
German predigen, predigen
- predigengive a sermon
- predigenproclaim by public discourse
- verkündigenproclaim by public discourse
- predigenadvise or recommend earnestly
Greek κηρύσσω, κηρύσσω
- κηρύσσω (kirýsso)give a sermon
- κηρύσσω (kirýsso)proclaim by public discourse
Hungarian prédikál, prédikál
- prédikálgive a sermon
- prédikáladvise or recommend earnestly
Icelandic predika, predika
- predikagive a sermon
- predikaadvise or recommend earnestly
Irish seanmóir a thabhairt, craobhscaoil
- seanmóir a thabhairtgive a sermon
- craobhscaoilproclaim by public discourse
Italian predicare, predicare
- predicaregive a sermon
- predicareproclaim by public discourse
- predicareadvise or recommend earnestly
Latin praedicō
- praedicōproclaim by public discourse
Māori kauhau, kauwhau
- kauhaugive a sermon
- kauwhaugive a sermon
Norwegian Bokmål preke
- prekegive a sermon
Polish głosić, kazać
- głosićproclaim by public discourse
- kazaćproclaim by public discourse
Portuguese pregar, pregar
- pregargive a sermon
- pregaradvise or recommend earnestly
Romanian predica
- predicagive a sermon
Russian пропове́довать, пропове́довать
- пропове́довать (propovédovatʹ)give a sermon
- пропове́довать (propovédovatʹ)proclaim by public discourse
Scottish Gaelic searmonaich
- searmonaichgive a sermon
Slovak kázať
- kázaťgive a sermon
Spanish predicar, predicar
- predicargive a sermon
- predicarproclaim by public discourse
- predicaradvise or recommend earnestly
Swahili kutangaza
- kutangazaproclaim by public discourse
Swedish predika, predika
- predikagive a sermon
- predikaadvise or recommend earnestly
Welsh pregethu
- pregethugive a sermon
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with preach
Anagrams
Cite this entry
preach. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preach
“preach.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preach. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “preach,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preach.
Source: preach on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.