Homilete

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who preaches sermons or delivers religious homilies, especially one who speaks informally on scripture to a congregation
2. One who gives a homily, a devotional talk or sermon, typically offering moral instruction and reflection on religious texts
3. A religious speaker who addresses a congregation with an edifying discourse, usually expounding on biblical passages for spiritual guidance

Etymology: The Greek "homilētēs" meant a companion, someone who keeps company with another, and the word derives from "homileō," to be in company or to associate with. Its literal sense is closer to "one who is among people" than to anything about speech. Only later did the Greek term come to mean a speaker addressing a gathering, which is the sense English borrowed when it adopted "homilete" as a learned word for a preacher. The root of "homileō" is "homilos," a crowd or throng, and English kept that sense of gathering in its relative "homily," a sermon delivered to a congregation. The English noun "homilete" is a learned borrowing from Ancient Greek, so it entered the language through scholarly and ecclesiastical writing rather than everyday speech, and it has stayed a rare, formal term for a preacher.