preach

[preech] /pritʃ/
verb (used with object)
1.
to proclaim or make known by sermon (the gospel, good tidings, etc.).
2.
to deliver (a sermon).
3.
to advocate or inculcate (religious or moral truth, right conduct, etc.) in speech or writing.
verb (used without object)
4.
to deliver a sermon.
5.
to give earnest advice, as on religious or moral subjects or the like.
6.
to do this in an obtrusive or tedious way.
Origin
1175-1225; Middle English prechen < Old French pre(ë)chier < Late Latin praedicāre to preach (Latin: to assert publicly, proclaim). See predicate
Related forms
outpreach, verb (used with object)
unpreached, adjective
Synonyms
5. advocate, profess, pronounce, expound.
Examples from the web for preach
  • preachers traveled the country, setting up tent revival meetings to preach fire and brimstone.
  • Most hospitals preach quality care but when the rubber hits the road they don't provide the resources to deliver the care.
  • Colleagues said he rarely wrote out what he would preach and could deliver a mesmerizing sermon spontaneously.
  • The college's chaplain, however, had invited me to preach in.
  • Let preachers preach and let science teachers teach science.
  • Countless workshops, webinars and blog posts preach about getting creative and thinking outside the box.
  • But graduates are no longer necessarily supposed to preach from the pulpit.
  • They preach an arrogant siren song that the current collection of politicians have yet to recognize as being counterproductive.
  • It frustrates me when some of those who preach the walk won't walk it themselves.
  • Some former players have gone online to preach the evils of gaming themselves.
British Dictionary definitions for preach

preach

/priːtʃ/
verb
1.
to make known (religious truth) or give religious or moral instruction or exhortation in (sermons)
2.
to advocate (a virtue, action, etc), esp in a moralizing way
Derived Forms
preachable, adjective
Word Origin
C13: from Old French prechier, from Church Latin praedicāre, from Latin: to proclaim in public; see predicate
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).

Idioms and Phrases with preach

preach

In addition to the idiom beginning with preach also see: practice what you preach