preacher
(ˈpriːtʃə(r))
Forms: 3–4 prechur, (3 -or, 4 -ore, -ure), 3–6 prechour, (4–5 -oure), 4 preychour, preichour (also 6 Sc.), 4–5 (6 Sc.) precheour, 4–7 precher, (5 -owre, 6– ar), 5–6 preachour, 6 Sc. preicheour, -eir, -er, 6– preacher.
[ME. precho(u)r, a. OF. prech(e)or, earlier preëch(e)or (13th c. in Godef.), popular ad. L. praedicātōr-em a preacher, whence also It. predicatore, Prov. prezicaire, Sp., Pg. predicador: see preach v. and -er2.]
One who preaches.
1. a. One who proclaims or sets forth religious doctrine by public discourse; one who delivers a sermon or sermons; esp. one whose occupation or function it is to preach the gospel; a minister of religion; spec. one licensed to preach.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 10 Prelaz & treowe prechures. a 1300 Cursor M. 20934 (Edin.) He firste was werrayure, eftirward bicom prechure [v.rr. -ur, -our, preichour]. c 1305 Edmund Conf. 314 in E.E.P. (1862) 79 Þe beste prechour he was iholde þat me ow[h]ar vnderstode. c 1325 Metr. Hom. Prol. 3 Forthi suld ilke precheour schau The god that Godd hauis gert him knau. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 226 Prechoures & prestes & prentyce[s] of lawe. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 23 Þat suche prechoris ben heretikis. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xvi. 88 A famose and a plesaunt precher to peple in a pulpit. 1530 Palsgr. 34 As a famous preachour. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. iii. 28 That now was the tyme to playe the preacher. 1561–2 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 202 Sustentatioun of the precheouris and readaris. 1562 in Strype Ann. Ref. (1709) I. xxvii. 284 By a preacher is meant such an one as hath preached before his ordinary, and hath his approbation under seal to be a preacher. a 1631 Donne Serm. lvii. (1640) 574 A word of the fœminine gender, not Concionator, but Concionatrix, a Shee-Preacher. 1662 Pepys Diary 2 Nov., To church, and there being a lazy preacher I slept out the sermon. a 1774 Goldsm. tr. Scarron's Com. Romance (1775) I. 289 While he rehearsed his heroics, they walked cap in hand before him, respecting him like a high-way preacher. 1859–60 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) III. ii. ii. 232 John of Antioch..had been the great preacher of the day. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 887 This [paralysis] gives rise to a peculiar position of the hand which has been named ‘the preacher's hand’. |
b. One who exhorts earnestly; one who advocates or inculcates something by speech or writing. Also
fig.| c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 165 Now dame..by god and by seint Iohn Ye been a noble prechour in this cas. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iv. i. 9 They are our outward Consciences, And Preachers to vs all. 1706 Swift Th. Various Subj. Wks. 1841 II. 304/1 No preacher is listened to but Time. 1900 Spielmann Ruskin 107 The artists welcome him as a writer, and he would be taken for an art-preacher. |
c. With
of: One who preaches (something specified). So
preacher up (
cf. preach v. 2 c).
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 428 Prechoures of goddes wordes. a 1425 Cursor M. 21179 (Trin.) Þese were þe apostlis twelue..precheres [earlier MSS. spellers] of trouþe. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 6 Precheouris of the word of God. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 4 The first Preachers of the Gospel. 1649 Milton Eikon. xii, We have him still a perpetual preacher of his own virtues. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxii. 158 The precipice to my left was a continual preacher of caution. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. 139 The denouncer of shams, the preacher up of sincerity. |
† 2. (In full,
friar preacher.) A name for the order of Dominican friars. Also
preaching friar: see
preaching ppl. a.
Cf. predicant.
Obs.| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10105 Ther after the verste ȝer Þe ordre bigan of frere prechors. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 353 Prechouris and Menours seyn þe reverse. c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 154 Þanne þouȝt y to frayne þe first of þis foure ordirs, And presede to þe prechoures to proven here wille. 1474 Caxton Chesse 130 To the frere prechours an hondred pounde. 1544 tr. Littleton's Tenures (1574) 41 b, In the order of fryers mynoures or preachers. |
3. spec. A name for Solomon as supposed speaker in the Book of Ecclesiastes; hence, that book itself.
| 1535 Coverdale Eccl. i. i. 2 These are the wordes of the Preacher, the sonne of Dauid, kynge of Ierusalem. All is but vanite, saieth y⊇ preacher [Vulg. dixit Ecclesiastes, Wyclif seide Ecclesiastes]. 1579 Fulke Heskins' Parl. 7 The book of Psalmes, the Preacher, & the song of Salomon. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., chiefly appositive, as
preacher-editor,
preacher-musician,
preacher-playwright,
preacher-saint,
preacher-teacher; also
preacher-like adj. and
adv.;
preacher-in-the-pulpit, a local N. American name of
Orchis spectabilis;
preacher-man U.S. dial.,
= sense 1 a.
| 1884 Miller Plant-n., Orchis spectabilis, Preacher-in-the-pulpit, Showy Orchis of N. America. 1895 Westm. Gaz. 24 July 7/1 He may be described as preacher-teacher to the pitmen. 1899 in H. Wentworth Amer. Dial. Dict. (1944) 474/1 Preacher-man. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 13 Dec. 7/3 If he thought he could help the preacher-editor he would. 1904 R. Small Hist. U.P. Congregations II. 488 [He] returned to preacher life again. 1913 H. Kephart Our Southern Highlanders xiii. 286 Everywhere in the mountains we hear of biscuit-bread..preacher-man, granny-woman. 1977 Times 23 May 5/1 A nice, homespun preacherman who spoke with a Southern drawl. |
Hence
ˈpreacherdom, the realm or community of preachers, preachers collectively;
ˈpreacherless a., without a preacher;
ˈpreacherling, a petty or inferior preacher;
ˈpreacherly a., of or pertaining to preachers.
| 1891 Sat. Rev. 7 Nov. 516/1 The veriest dumb dog in *preacherdom. |
| 1893 Boston Mission. Herald Dec. 526 The converts from *preacherless villages are swept off their feet by the tide of persecution. |
| 1772 Nugent tr. Hist. Friar Gerund II. 27 A certain *preacherling pronounced, or was to pronounce, a funeral oration. |
| 1905 A. Lang in Longm. Mag. Aug. 376 Under any despotism, lay or priestly or *preacherly. |