prayer
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (5)prayers
- the act of communicating with a deity (especially as a petition or in adoration or contrition or thanksgiving)“the priest sank to his knees in prayer”Synonyms: supplicationType of worshipKinds blessing, devotion
- reverent petition to a deitySynonyms: petitionorisonType of request, askingKinds invocation, deprecation, intercession, commination, grace, requiescat, benediction, prayer wheel, collect
- earnest or urgent request“an entreaty to stop the fighting”“an appeal for help”“an appeal to the public to keep calm”Synonyms: entreatyappealType of request, askingKinds suit, courtship, demagoguery, solicitation, supplication, adjuration
- a fixed text used in prayingType of sacred text, sacred writingKinds Shema, Agnus Dei, MassExamples Angelus, Ave Maria, Lord's Prayer, Litany, Evening Prayer, Canticle of Simeon, Kol Nidre
- someone who prays to GodSynonyms: supplicantType of religious personKinds beadsman, beadswoman
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Noun practice of communicating with one's God
- Spanish
- rezo
- French
- prière
- German
- Gebet
- Italian
- preghiera
- Portuguese
- oração
- Turkish
- dua
- Russian
- моли́тва molítva
- Arabic
- صَلَاة ṣalāh
- Chinese
- 祈祷 qídǎo
- Japanese
- 祈り inori
30 more languages
- Dutch
- gebed
- Polish
- modlitwa
- Swedish
- bön
- Greek
- προσευχή prosefchí
- Korean
- 기도 gido
- Indonesian
- doa
- Vietnamese
- ý nguyện
- Hungarian
- ima
- Portuguese (PT)
- oração
- Chinese (Trad.)
- 祈禱 qídǎo
- Albanian
- lutje
- Catalan
- oració
- Czech
- modlitba
- Danish
- bøn
- Esperanto
- preĝo
- Estonian
- palve
- Finnish
- rukous
- Georgian
- ლოცვა locva
- Icelandic
- bæn
- Kurdish
- nivêj
- Lithuanian
- malda
- Malagasy
- vavaka
- Norwegian
- bønn
- Romanian
- rugăciune
- Scottish Gaelic
- ùrnaigh
- Serbo-Croatian
- molitva
- Slovenian
- molitev
- Swahili
- swala
- Welsh
- gweddi
- Yiddish
- תּפֿילה tfile
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
One who prays; a supplicant.
Origin: OE. preiere, OF. preiere, F. prière, fr. L. precarius obtained by prayer, fr. precari to pray. See Pray, intransitive verb
1. The act of praying, or of asking a favor; earnest request or entreaty; hence, a petition or memorial addressed to a court or a legislative body. “Their meek preyere.” Geoffrey Chaucer
2. The act of addressing supplication to a divinity, especially to the true God; the offering of adoration, confession, supplication, and thanksgiving to the Supreme Being; as, public prayer; secret prayer.
As he is famed for mildness, peace, and prayer.— William Shakespeare
3. The form of words used in praying; a formula of supplication; an expressed petition; especially, a supplication addressed to God; as, a written or extemporaneous prayer; to repeat one's prayers.
He made those excellent prayers which were published immediately after his death.— Bp. John Fell
Prayer book, a book containing devotional prayers. — Prayer meeting, a meeting or gathering for prayer to God.
Synonyms: Petition; orison; supplication; entreaty; suit.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54