pray
pronunciation
How to pronounce pray in British English:
UK [preɪ]
How to pronounce pray in American English:
US [preɪ]
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- Verb:
- address God; say a prayer
- call upon in supplication; entreat
Word Origin
- pray
- pray: [13] Latin precārī meant ‘ask for, entreat, pray’ (it has given English deprecate [17] and imprecation [16]). In Vulgar Latin it became *precāre, which passed into English via Old French preier. The noun prayer [13] goes back ultimately to the Latin adjective precārius ‘obtained by asking or praying’ (source also of English precarious), which was derived from precārī.=> deprecate, imprecation, precarious
- pray (v.)
- early 13c., "ask earnestly, beg," also (c. 1300) "pray to a god or saint," from Old French preier "to pray" (c.900, Modern French prier), from Vulgar Latin *precare (also source of Italian pregare), from Latin precari "ask earnestly, beg, entreat," from *prex (plural preces, genitive precis) "prayer, request, entreaty," from PIE root *prek- "to ask, request, entreat" (cognates: Sanskrit prasna-, Avestan frashna- "question;" Old Church Slavonic prositi, Lithuanian prasyti "to ask, beg;" Old High German frahen, German fragen, Old English fricgan "to ask" a question). Parenthetical expression I pray you, "please, if you will," attested from 1510s, contracted to pray 16c. Related: Prayed; praying. Praying mantis attested from 1809. The "Gardener's Monthly" of July 1861 lists other names for it as camel cricket, soothsayer, and rear horse.
Example
- 1. She and her friends must pray she is right .
- 2. You have two alternatives : panic or pray .
- 3. I still pray I won 't die suddenly .
- 4. It is very satisfying to pray spontaneously .
- 5. When should we pray for our enemies ?