Meanings
preacher1
plural preachers
- Someone who preaches a worldview, philosophy, or religion, especially someone who preaches the gospel and especially a clergyman or clergywoman. In a religious context, usually used only to refer to Protestant Christian clergy.
The born preacher we feel instinctively to be our foe. He may do some good to the wretches that have been struck down and lie gasping on the battlefield: he rouses antagonism in the strong.
1859, George Meredith, chapter 10, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC
Preacher2
- Ecclesiastes, the twenty-first book of the Old Testament.
- rareA male given name from English.
- rareA surname from Middle English.
- A nickname.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpraedicator“public praiser, proclaimer”
- Old Frenchpreecheor
- Middle Englishprechour
- Middle Englishprecher
- Englishpreacher
From Middle English precher, prechere; partly equivalent to preach + -er, and partly continuing Middle English prechour, prechiour, from Old French preecheor (French prêcheur), from Latin praedicator (“public praiser, proclaimer”). See preach. Displaced native Old English bydel.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans predikant
- predikantone who preaches
Ancient Greek ἱεροκῆρυξ
- ἱεροκῆρυξ (hierokêrux)one who preaches
Arabic وَاعِظ
- وَاعِظ (wāʕiẓ)one who preaches
Basque sermolari
- sermolarione who preaches
Bulgarian пропове́дник
- пропове́дник (propovédnik)one who preaches
Catalan predicador
- predicadorone who preaches
Chinese Cantonese 傳教士 /传教士
- 傳教士 /传教士 (cyun⁴ gaau³ si⁶)one who preaches
Chinese Mandarin 傳教士 /传教士
- 傳教士 /传教士 (chuánjiàoshì)one who preaches
Czech kazatel
- kazatelone who preaches
Danish prædikant
- prædikantone who preaches
Dutch prediker, predikant
- predikerone who preaches
- predikantone who preaches
Esperanto predikisto
- predikistoone who preaches
Estonian jutlustaja
- jutlustajaone who preaches
Finnish saarnaaja
- saarnaajaone who preaches
French prédicateur, prêcheur
- prédicateurone who preaches
- prêcheurone who preaches
German Prediger
- Predigerone who preaches
Greek ιεροκήρυκας
- ιεροκήρυκας (ierokírykas)one who preaches
Hindi उपदेशक
- उपदेशक (updeśak)one who preaches
Hungarian prédikátor
- prédikátorone who preaches
Icelandic prédikari
- prédikarione who preaches
Irish seanmóirí
- seanmóiríone who preaches
Italian predicatore
- predicatoreone who preaches
Japanese 説教者
- 説教者 (sekkyōsha)one who preaches
Korean 설교자
- 설교자 (seolgyoja)one who preaches
Latin praedicator
- praedicatorone who preaches
Latvian sludinātājs
- sludinātājsone who preaches
Lithuanian pamokslininkas
- pamokslininkasone who preaches
Māori kaikauhau, kaikauwhau
- kaikauhauone who preaches
- kaikauwhauone who preaches
Norwegian predikant
- predikantone who preaches
Persian واعظ
- واعظ (vâ'ez)one who preaches
Polish kaznodzieja
- kaznodziejaone who preaches
Portuguese pregador
- pregadorone who preaches
Romanian predicator
- predicatorone who preaches
Russian пропове́дник
- пропове́дник (propovédnik)one who preaches
Scottish Gaelic searmonaiche
- searmonaicheone who preaches
Slovak kazateľ
- kazateľone who preaches
Spanish predicador
- predicadorone who preaches
Swahili mhubiri
- mhubirione who preaches
Swedish predikant
- predikantone who preaches
Tagalog predikador
- predikadorone who preaches
Turkish vaiz
- vaizone who preaches
Ukrainian пропові́дник
- пропові́дник (propovídnyk)one who preaches
Urdu واعظ
- واعظ (vā'iz)one who preaches
Vietnamese người thuyết giáo
- người thuyết giáoone who preaches
Welsh pregethwr, pregethydd
- pregethwrone who preaches
- pregethyddone who preaches
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with preacher
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
preacher. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preacher
“preacher.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preacher. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “preacher,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preacher.
Source: preacher on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.