Preacher

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈpɹit͡ʃɚ/

Definitions

1. A person who leads religious services and gives sermons to a congregation
2. Someone who publicly speaks to promote religious teachings and moral guidance
3. An individual who delivers speeches aimed at inspiring faith and ethical behavior

Etymology: "Preacher" has a tidy surface, but its ancestry runs through two competing routes into English. The Old English word for a religious speaker was "bydel," which is now forgotten in that sense; it was pushed aside by a newer term. In Middle English, speakers could use either "precher" or "prechour," and that doubling shows how the word was built from two sources at once. The first route is native. "Precher" was formed by taking the verb "preach" and adding the suffix "-er," the ordinary English way of naming someone who does a thing. The second route is French. "Prechour" came from Old French "preecheor," the ancestor of modern French "prêcheur," which in turn traced back to Latin "praedicator," meaning a public proclaimer or praiser. The Latin root meant something close to announcing aloud, and the religious sense grew out of that public speaking. English ended up with both strands. The native "-er" formation and the French-derived "prechour" merged into the form we use now, so the word carries a Latin-rooted meaning inside an English-built shape.

Synonyms: minister, clergyman, evangelist, homilist, sermonizer

Antonyms: sinner, nonbeliever