# preach

Pronunciation: US say "PREECH" /pɹit͡ʃ/; UK

## Verb

1. To deliver a sermon to a congregation, especially during a religious service.
   - Simple: To give a religious talk to a group of people at a church.
   - _The bishop will preach at the cathedral tomorrow morning._
   - _Ministers who preach every week often reuse older material._
2. To hand out unwanted advice in a moralizing, overbearing manner.
   - Simple: To tell people how to live in a bossy, annoying way they did not ask for.
   - _He'll preach to anyone who will listen about the evils of sugar._
   - _I wish she wouldn't preach at me every time I run late._
3. To advocate or recommend something earnestly and insistently.
   - Simple: To strongly recommend something you really believe in.
   - _Good coaches preach discipline above raw talent._
   - _He preached moderation to anyone who would listen._
4. To proclaim a religious message through public discourse, as in a sermon.
   - Simple: To announce a religious message out loud in a sermon.
   - _Evangelists preach salvation to vast outdoor audiences._
   - _She preached repentance from the pulpit every Sunday._
5. To teach or instruct an audience through sermons and religious discourse.
   - Simple: To teach people lessons or beliefs by means of sermons.
   - _Reformers preach literacy as a moral duty to their followers._
   - _The chaplain preached self-discipline to the new cadets._

## Interjection

6. Said to express enthusiastic agreement, as if urging the speaker to keep going. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Used to show that you strongly agree with what someone just said.
   - _Preach! That's exactly what the whole team needed to hear._
   - _She nodded hard and called out, "Preach," the moment he named the real problem._

## Noun

7. A discourse or address delivered on a religious subject. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A speech or talk about religion, given to a group of listeners.
   - _The congregation grew restless as the preach stretched past noon._
   - _He sat through every preach the old minister gave that winter._

## Origin

From Middle English prechen, from Old French prëechier (Modern French prêcher), from Latin praedicō ("to proclaim, announce"). It is a doublet of predicate, and the same Latin word gave rise to words for "preach" in many other languages, including Dutch preken, German predigen, and Swedish predika.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/preach (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).