PRAYER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does prayer mean? 

• PRAYER (noun)
  The noun PRAYER has 5 senses:

1. the act of communicating with a deity (especially as a petition or in adoration or contrition or thanksgiving)

2. reverent petition to a deity

3. earnest or urgent request

4. a fixed text used in praying

5. someone who prays to God

  Familiarity information: PRAYER used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PRAYER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of communicating with a deity (especially as a petition or in adoration or contrition or thanksgiving)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

prayer; supplication

Context example:

the priest sank to his knees in prayer

Hypernyms ("prayer" is a kind of...):

worship (the activity of worshipping)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "prayer"):

benediction; blessing (the act of praying for divine protection)

devotion ((usually plural) religious observance or prayers (usually spoken silently))

Derivation:

pray (address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Reverent petition to a deity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

orison; petition; prayer

Hypernyms ("prayer" is a kind of...):

asking; request (the verbal act of requesting)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "prayer"):

prayer wheel (a cylinder with prayers written on it; each revolution counts as uttering the prayers; used especially by Buddhists in Tibet)

benediction; blessing (a ceremonial prayer invoking divine protection)

collect (a short prayer generally preceding the lesson in the Church of Rome or the Church of England)

commination (prayers proclaiming God's anger against sinners; read in the Church of England on Ash Wednesday)

deprecation (a prayer to avert or remove some evil or disaster)

blessing; grace; thanksgiving (a short prayer of thanks before a meal)

intercession (a prayer to God on behalf of another person)

invocation; supplication (a prayer asking God's help as part of a religious service)

requiescat (a prayer for the repose of the soul of a dead person)

Derivation:

pray (address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Earnest or urgent request

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

appeal; entreaty; prayer

Context example:

an appeal to the public to keep calm

Hypernyms ("prayer" is a kind of...):

asking; request (the verbal act of requesting)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "prayer"):

plea; supplication (a humble request for help from someone in authority)

courting; courtship; suit; wooing (a man's courting of a woman; seeking the affections of a woman (usually with the hope of marriage))

suit (a petition or appeal made to a person of superior status or rank)

solicitation (an entreaty addressed to someone of superior status)

demagoguery; demagogy (impassioned appeals to the prejudices and emotions of the populace)

adjuration (a solemn and earnest appeal to someone to do something)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A fixed text used in praying

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("prayer" is a kind of...):

religious text; religious writing; sacred text; sacred writing (writing that is venerated for the worship of a deity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "prayer"):

Agnus Dei (a liturgical prayer beginning with these Latin words)

Mass (a sequence of prayers constituting the Christian Eucharistic rite)

Shema (a liturgical prayer (considered to be the essence of Jewish religion) that is recited at least twice daily by adult Jewish males to declare their faith)

Instance hyponyms:

Angelus (a prayer said 3 times a day by Roman Catholics in memory of the Annunciation)

Ave Maria; Hail Mary (a salutation to the Virgin Mary now used in prayers to her)

Canticle of Simeon; Nunc dimittis (the prayer of Simeon (Luke 2:29-32))

Evening Prayer; evensong ((Anglican Church) a daily evening service with prayers prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer)

Kol Nidre (the opening prayer on the eve of Yom Kippur)

Litany (a prayer consisting of a series of invocations by the priest with responses from the congregation)

Lord's Prayer (the prayer that Christ gave his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9-13))

Derivation:

pray (address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Someone who prays to God

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

prayer; supplicant

Hypernyms ("prayer" is a kind of...):

religious person (a person who manifests devotion to a deity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "prayer"):

beadsman; bedesman (a person who is paid to pray for the soul of another)

Derivation:

pray (address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer)

 Context examples 

May the holy saints have you both in their keeping is ever the prayer of thy servant.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I had to sit with the girls during their hour of study; then it was my turn to read prayers; to see them to bed: afterwards I supped with the other teachers.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Didn't that do as well as a regular prayer?

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

When we got in, and had washed our feet, and had said a prayer of thankfulness together, I tucked her into bed.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

One wishes it were not so; but I have not yet left Oxford long enough to forget what chapel prayers are.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

In the morning after he had said his prayers, he sat himself down to his work; when, to his great wonder, there stood the shoes all ready made, upon the table.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

After a little while of silence, he said he thought somebody might read a prayer.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I will melt the stony hearts of your enemies by my tears and prayers.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I yielded—as I have always yielded—to his prayers, and instantly James hurried off to the Fighting Cock to warn Hayes and give him the means of flight.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This experience, with the prayers of his wife, made him forswear the ring for ever, and carry his great muscles into the one trade in which they seemed to give him an advantage.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)