pray
Pronunciation: /pɹeɪ/
The English word “pray” has 6 meanings listed here.
verb
- To direct words, thoughts, or one's attention to a deity or any higher being, for the sake of adoration, thanks, petition for help, etc.
- To humbly beg a person for aid or their time.
- To ask earnestly for; to seek to obtain by supplication; to entreat for.
- To wish or hope strongly for a particular outcome.
- To implore, to entreat, to request.
adverb
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English preien, borrowed from Anglo-Norman preier, from Old French proiier, from Late Latin precāre, from Latin precārī, from prex (“request, petition, prayer”), from Proto-Italic *preks, from Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- (“to request, ask”). Displaced native Old English gebiddan. Cognate via Indo-European of Old English frignan, fricgan, German fragen, Dutch vragen. Compare…
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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.