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lecture

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈlɛk.t͡ʃə/ (UK); /ˈlɛk.t͡ʃɚ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French lecture, and directly Medieval Latin lectura (“a reading”),[2][3][4] from Latin lectus, past participle of legere (“to read”), originally to gather, pick out (see legend),[3][2] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *leg- (“to collect, gather”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Literature, written works: probably before 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder;[2] reading, learning from books, late 14th century.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The action of reading, or that which is read, is the OED's first sense (1398),[5] and reading aloud, in worship or to students, is from the early 15th century.[3] Trench notes that lecture and reading were once synonyms, and quotes Coverdale's after the lecture of the law and of the prophets (Acts 13:15).[6] A discourse on a subject before an audience is from 1536, probably after Middle French (1498).[2][5] A reproof is from about 1600, in Shakespeare's As You Like It.[2][3] The verb, to give lectures, is from about 1590,[2][7] and to scold, 1706.[2][3]

Timeline

  • before 1300 – literature.[2]
  • 1398 – the action of reading.[5]
  • 1536 – a discourse to an audience.[2]
  • c. 1590 – the verb.[2]
  • 1600 – a reprimand.[2]
  • 1706 – to scold.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A talk on a subject given to an audience or class, to instruct.
  2. A long, earnest reprimand.

Verb

  1. To give a lecture or lectures.
  2. To reprove someone at length.

Word family

  • lectureship
  • lecturer
  • curtain lecture

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster