Adjacent Words

Homily definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HOM'ILY, n. [Gr. to converse in company, a company or assembly.]
A discourse or sermon read or pronounced to an audience; or a plain, familiar discourse on some subject of religion, such as an instructor would deliver to his pupils, or a father to his children.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a sermon on a moral or religious topic [syn: homily, preachment]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -lies) Etymology: Middle English omelie, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin homilia, from Late Greek, from Greek, conversation, discourse, from homilein to consort with, address, from homilos crowd, assembly; akin to Greek homos same — more at same Date: 14th century 1. a usually short sermon 2. a lecture or discourse on or of a moral theme 3. an inspirational catchphrase; also platitude

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 a sermon. 2 a tedious moralizing discourse. Derivatives: homilist n. Etymology: ME f. OF omelie f. eccl.L homilia f. Gk homilia f. homilos crowd

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Homily Hom"i*ly, n.; pl. Homilies. [LL. homilia, Gr. ? communion, assembly, converse, sermon, fr. ? an assembly, fr. ? same; cf. ? together, and ? crowd, cf. ? to press: cf. F. hom['e]lie. See Same.] 1. A discourse or sermon read or pronounced to an audience; a serious discourse. --Shak. 2. A serious or tedious exhortation in private on some moral point, or on the conduct of life. As I have heard my father Deal out in his long homilies. --Byron. Book of Homilies. A collection of authorized, printed sermons, to be read by ministers in churches, esp. one issued in the time of Edward VI., and a second, issued in the reign of Elizabeth; -- both books being certified to contain a ``godly and wholesome doctrine.''

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(homilies) A homily is a speech or piece of writing in which someone complains about the state of something or tells people how they ought to behave. (FORMAL) ...a receptive audience for his homily on moral values. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Sermon, discourse.

Moby Thesaurus

article, assignment, causerie, chalk talk, descant, discourse, discussion, disquisition, dissertation, essay, etude, examination, excursus, exercise, exposition, feature, first approach, harangue, homework, instruction, introductory study, lecture, lecture-demonstration, lesson, lucubration, memoir, monograph, moral, moral lesson, morality, moralization, morceau, note, object lesson, outline, pandect, paper, paragraph, piece, preachification, preaching, preachment, prelection, preliminary study, prolegomenon, recital, recitation, religious discourse, research paper, screed, sermon, sermonette, set task, sketch, skull session, special article, study, survey, talk, task, teaching, term paper, theme, thesis, tract, tractate, travelogue, treatise, treatment