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Added 9 October 2026

pray

/pɹeɪ/ verb

In Latin: ōrō, precor Wiktionary

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about pray at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

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.
Muslims pray in the direction of Mecca.
To humbly beg a person for aid or their time.
To ask earnestly for; to seek to obtain by supplication; to entreat for.

adverb

Please; used to make a polite request
pray silence for…
Alternative form of pray tell (“I ask you”).

Origin

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 deprecate, imprecate, precarious.

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

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