exhortation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English exhortacioun,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French exhortacion and directly borrowed from Latin exhortātiō (“an exhortation, encouragement”),^[2][5][3][4] from exhortor (“to exhort, encourage”),^[6][2][7] from ex- (“thoroughly”) and hortor (“to encourage, urge”),^[2][5] from Proto-Indo-European *gher- (“to like, want”).^[2][8] The OED derives it from Latin and only compares the French word.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Earnest urging or admonition: about 1384, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible, 1 Timothy 4:13, "taak tent to redinge, to exortacioun, or monestyng, and teching".^[3][6][5] Etymonline dates it to the late 14th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the act of urging the word moved to the words themselves, a set speech made for that purpose: about 1450 in the OED, and in the early 15th century in Etymonline.^[6][2] It was used especially of a formal address in a religious service,^[6][9] and Merriam-Webster also records it of a liturgical formulary.^[4] Johnson (1755) separates the two as "the act of exhorting; incitement to good" and "the form of words by which one is exhorted", quoting Shakespeare's "I'll end my exhortation after dinner".^[10] Attributive use is recorded from 1872, in Shipley's Glossary of Ecclesiastical Terms.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1384 – urging or admonition, or an instance of it.^[6][3][5]
• c. 1450 – a set speech for exhorting; a formal religious address.^[6] Etymonline dates this sense to the early 15th century.^[2]
• 1872 – attributive use.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act or an instance of exhorting; earnest urging or admonition: Her exhortations to save more went unheeded.^[8][4][6]
2. A speech or written passage meant to persuade, inspire or encourage; especially a formal address in a liturgical rite.^{[8][11][6][9]}

Related words

• exhort
• hortatory

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins