pray
/pɹeɪ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.40 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
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.
verb
To wish or hope strongly for a particular outcome.
adv
Alternative form of pray tell (“I ask you”).
name
A surname.
Example Sentences
- "Muslims pray in the direction of Mecca."
- "Pray to the small gods and hope that they may hear thee. Yet what mercy should the small gods have, who themselves made Death and Pain; or shall they restrain their old hound Time for thee?"
- "This can't happen. You can't die! You're the Emissary! [...] Captain, I know my beliefs make you uncomfortable around me sometimes, and that maybe that's why you keep me at arm's length. But I don't care about that right now, and I am going to pray, because I don't know what else to do."
- "The critically low level of rainfall in the second half of 2020 – approaching 50% year on year for November – led the religious affairs directorate to instruct imams and their congregations to pray for rain last month."
- "I know not how to pray your patience."
- "She is praying that the Red Sox will win tonight."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- Proto-Italic *preks Latin prex Latin precārī Late Latin precāre Old French proiier Anglo-Norman preierbor. Middle English preien English pray 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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: -, pré