What does "pray" mean?

1. (religious worship) to speak to a god to give thanks or ask for help. 2. (to hope strongly) to hope very much that something will happen or be true. 3. (to beg or request) to ask someone for something in a very serious or formal way. 4. (please) an old-fashioned way to say 'please' when asking a question.

pray

v. · adv.

US //ˈpɹeɪ// UK //pɹˈeɪ// pray

1 religious worship (v.)
B1 Intermediate Religion

to speak to a god to give thanks or ask for help.

to address a deity or object of worship with adoration, confession, supplication, or thanksgiving.

Example

The family gathered every evening to pray for their health and safety.

Example

Many pilgrims travel hundreds of miles to the shrine to pray for divine intervention in their personal struggles.
- worship
- invoke
2 to hope strongly (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

to hope very much that something will happen or be true.

to express or feel a strong inward hope for a specific outcome.

Example

I am praying that the rain stops before the outdoor wedding starts.

Example

The farmers were praying for a successful harvest after the previous year's devastating drought had depleted their savings.
- hope
- wish

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3 to beg or request (v.)
C1 Advanced Formal Law

to ask someone for something in a very serious or formal way.

to make a formal or humble request to a person in authority; often used in legal petitions.

Example

The prisoner began to pray for mercy from the king.

Example

The petitioner moved the court to pray for an injunction against the further development of the protected wetlands.
- beseech
- entreat
- petition
4 please (adv.)
C2 Proficiency Archaic Formal

an old-fashioned way to say 'please' when asking a question.

an archaic or highly formal marker of a polite request or inquiry, typically used at the beginning of a sentence.

Example

Pray, tell me what you have discovered during your travels.

Example

Pray, what is the meaning of this sudden intrusion into my private chambers?
- please
- prithee

Etymology 1

From Middle English preien, from Anglo-Norman preier, from Old French preier, proier (French prier), from Latin precārī, from prex, precis (“a prayer, a request”), from Proto-Italic preks, from Proto-Indo-European preḱ- (“to ask, woo”). Displaced native Old English gebiddan. Cognate via Indo-European of Old English frignan, fricgan, German fragen, Dutch vragen. Compare deprecate, imprecate, precarious.

Etymology 2

Ellipsis of I pray you, I pray thee, whence also prithee.

Word family

Verbpray
Nounprayer

Idioms3 entries