Etymologically
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preacher

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 25 October 2026 at 23:43. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈpɹiːt͡ʃəː/[1]
  • US: /ˈpɹit͡ʃɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English prechour,[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman precheour, also prechur and precher, and Old French precheor, modern prêcheur,[5][6][2] from Ecclesiastical Latin praedicātor (“preacher”),[5][7][6] in classical Latin "proclaimer, public praiser",[2][4] from praedicō (“to proclaim”), the source of preach.[7][2] Merriam-Webster analyses the French word as preechier (“to preach”) with the agent suffix -eur.[8] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from about 1136–65, meaning a foreteller or proclaimer, a preacher of the Christian faith and a Dominican friar.[9][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who preaches, especially one whose function is to preach the gospel: ?c1225, in the Ancrene Riwle;[5] Etymonline dates it to about 1200.[2]

Semantic evolution

From the religious sense the word widened about 1300 to someone who preaches a particular doctrine or practice (a preacher of something),[5][3] and by Chaucer's Wife of Bath's Tale (c. 1395) to anyone who exhorts others earnestly, often self-righteously.[5][8] From the Order of Preachers, the Dominican friars were called preachers (?c1335), a sense now historical.[5][8][9] In Coverdale's Bible (1535) the Preacher is Solomon as the supposed speaker of Ecclesiastes; the OED compares German Prediger in Luther's Bible.[5][10] Johnson (1755) defined a preacher as one who discourses publicly on religious subjects.[11] Today it is used especially of a Protestant minister,[10] and the slang short form preach is recorded in American English by 1968.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1136 – Anglo-Norman prechur, proclaimer, preacher.[9]
  • ?c1225 – one who preaches the gospel, in the Ancrene Riwle.[5]
  • c. 1300 – preacher of, an advocate of a doctrine or practice.[5]
  • ?c1335 – a Dominican friar.[5]
  • c. 1395 – one who exhorts others, in Chaucer.[5]
  • 1535 – the Preacher, the speaker of Ecclesiastes.[5]
  • 1968 – slang short form preach.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who preaches sermons, especially a Protestant minister: a lay preacher at the village chapel.[10][8][5]
  2. A person who urges or advocates something earnestly, often officiously: a preacher of thrift.[8][5]
  3. (historical) A Dominican friar.[8][5]
  4. the Preacher: the author or speaker of Ecclesiastes, or the book itself.[10][5]

Word family

  • local preacher

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b 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 Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.