Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

lecture

/ˈlɛk.t͡ʃə/ noun

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about lecture at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A speech that is open to the public.
he attended a lecture on telecommunications
A lengthy rebuke.
a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline
Teaching by giving a discourse on some subject (typically to a class).

verb

Deliver a lecture or talk.
She will talk at Rutgers next week
Censure severely or angrily.
The mother scolded the child for entering a stranger's car

Origin

From Middle English lecture, lectour, letture, letteur, lettur, lectury, from Medieval Latin or Late Latin lectura (“reading”), from Latin lectus, past participle of legō (“to read, recite”). Doublet of lector.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word