sermon English · revision 966

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈsɜː.mən/ ''(UK)''; /ˈsɝ.mən/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|sermoun]], [[bor|xno|sermun]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from Old French ''sermon'',^(AHD)^(Etymonline) and directly [[der|la|sermō|t=discourse, speech, talk]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) probably related to ''serere'' “to join, link together”, as “a stringing together of words”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A discourse, usually from a pulpit and based on a text of Scripture, for religious instruction (before 1200).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The English and French sense is elliptical for Latin ''sermo religiosus'' “public religious discourse”.^(Etymonline) Throughout Middle English the word also kept the classical sense of any talk or discourse (c. 1275), now obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) It was used of the discourses of Christ and the Apostles from the 13th century, as in the ''Sermon on the Mount''.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The transferred sense, a serious or tedious speech of instruction or reproof, dates from 1596.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1200 – a religious discourse.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1250 – the discourses of Christ and the Apostles.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1275 – any talk or discourse (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1596 – a lengthy or tedious lecture.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A religious discourse delivered as part of a church service, usually by a member of the [[clergy]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A serious speech on conduct or duty; often, a long and tedious speech of reproof or exhortation; a [[lecture]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sermonic]]

+ * [[sermonette]]

+ * [[sermonize]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[homily]]

+ * [[series]]

+ * [[preach]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}