What does pray mean?

Definitions for pray
preɪpray

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word pray.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. prayverb

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

    "pray to the Lord"

  2. beg, implore, prayverb

    call upon in supplication; entreat

    "I beg you to stop!"

Wiktionary

  1. prayverb

    To petition or solicit help from a supernatural or higher being.

  2. prayverb

    To humbly beg a person for aid or their time.

  3. prayverb

    to talk to God for any reason.

  4. prayadverb

    please; used to make a polite request.

  5. Etymology: preien, from preier, (French prier), from precari, from prex, precis, “a prayer, a request”; akin to Sanskrit prach “to ask”, Old English frignan, fricgan, German fragen, Dutch vragen. Confer deprecate, imprecate, precarious.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To Prayverb

    How much more, if we pray him, will his ear
    Be open, and his heart to pity incline? John Milton.

    He that will have the benefit of this act, must pray a prohibition before a sentence in the ecclesiastical court. John Ayliffe.

    Pray my collegue Antonius I may speak with him;
    And as you go, call on my brother Quintus,
    And pray him with the tribunes to come to me. Ben Jonson.

  2. To Prayverb

    Etymology: prier, Fr. pregare, Italian.

    I will buy with you, sell will you; but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you. William Shakespeare.

    Pray for this good man and his issue. William Shakespeare.

    Ne’er throughout the year to church thou go’st,
    Except it be to pray against thy foes. William Shakespeare.

    I tell him, we shall stay here at the least a month; and he heartily prays, some occasion may detain us longer. William Shakespeare.

    Is any sick? let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him. Jam. v. 14.

    Unskilful with what words to pray, let me
    Interpret for him. John Milton.

    He that prays, despairs not; but sad is the condition of him that cannot pray; happy are they that can, and do, and love to do it. Jeremy Taylor, Guide to Devotion.

    Thou, Turnus, shalt attone it by thy fate,
    And pray to heav’n for peace, but pray too late. Dryden.

    He prais’d my courage, pray’d for my success;
    He was so true a father of his country,
    To thank me for defending ev’n his foes. Dryden.

    Should you pray to God for a recovery, how rash would it be to accuse God of not hearing your prayers, because you found your disease still to continue. William Wake.

    You shall find
    A conqu’ror that will pray in aid for kindness,
    Where he for grace is kneel’d to. William Shakespeare.

    Pray that in towns and temples of renown,
    The name of great Anchises may be known. Dryden.

    But I pray, in this mechanical formation, when the ferment was expanded to the extremities of the arteries, why did it not break through the receptacle? Richard Bentley, Sermons.

    Barnard in spirit, sense and truth abounds;
    Pray then what wants he? fourscore thousand pounds. Alexander Pope.

Wikipedia

  1. Pray

    Pray is a song by Swiss artist DJ Bobo. It was released in September 1996 as the lead single from his third album, World in Motion. The single features vocals by American singers Lori Glori and Jocelyn Brown, and the choir United Spirits. "Pray" hit success in Europe, reaching number 2 in Finland and Switzerland, number 3 in France and Germany, number 5 in Hungary and number 6 in Austria. On the Eurochart Hot 100, "Pray" peaked at number 13 in October 1996.

ChatGPT

  1. pray

    Pray generally refers to the act of communing, conversing, or expressing one's thoughts, desires, gratitude, or requests to a higher power or deity. It often involves verbal or mental communication and can be accompanied by specific rituals, gestures, or postures, varying across different religious or spiritual traditions. Praying is usually seen as an act of seeking guidance, solace, strength, or blessings, and it is typically done within a religious or spiritual context.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Pray

    see Pry

  2. Prayverb

    to make request with earnestness or zeal, as for something desired; to make entreaty or supplication; to offer prayer to a deity or divine being as a religious act; specifically, to address the Supreme Being with adoration, confession, supplication, and thanksgiving

  3. Prayverb

    to address earnest request to; to supplicate; to entreat; to implore; to beseech

  4. Prayverb

    to ask earnestly for; to seek to obtain by supplication; to entreat for

  5. Prayverb

    to effect or accomplish by praying; as, to pray a soul out of purgatory

Wikidata

  1. Pray

    "Pray" is song by boyband Take That. Written by Gary Barlow and released on 5 July 1993, it was the second single from their second album Everything Changes. It is the first of 11 singles by the band to reach number one on the UK Singles Chart, staying at number one for four weeks and starting a streak of four consecutive number one singles. The song has received a Gold sales status certification and sold over 410,000 copies in the UK, won Best British Single and Best British Video at the 1994 Brit Awards, and was the finale of the Beautiful World Tour.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Pray

    prā, v.i. to ask earnestly: to entreat: to speak and make known one's desires to God.—v.t. to ask earnestly and reverently, as in worship: to supplicate: to get by praying:—pr.p. prāy′ing; pa.t. and pa.p. prāyed.—ns. Pray′er, the act of praying: entreaty: the words used: solemn giving of thanks and praise to God, and a making known of our requests to Him: a form of prayer used in worship: a petition to a public body; Pray′er-book, a book containing prayers or forms of devotion.—adj. Pray′erful, full of, or given to, prayer: praying much or often: devotional.—adv. Pray′erfully.—n. Pray′erfulness.—adj. Pray′erless, without or not using prayer.—adv. Pray′erlessly.—ns. Pray′erlessness; Pray′er-meet′ing, a shorter and simpler form of public religious service, in which laymen often take part; Pray′er-mong′er, one who prays mechanically; Pray′er-rug, a small carpet on which a Moslem kneels at prayer; Pray′ing, the act of making a prayer: a prayer made.—adj. given to prayer.—ns. Pray′ing-machine′, -mill, -wheel, a revolving apparatus used for prayer in Tibet and elsewhere. [O. Fr. preier (Fr. prier)—L. precāriprex, precis, a prayer.]

Suggested Resources

  1. PRAY

    What does PRAY stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the PRAY acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. PRAY

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Pray is ranked #8700 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Pray surname appeared 3,773 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 would have the surname Pray.

    84.1% or 3,173 total occurrences were White.
    9.1% or 344 total occurrences were Black.
    3.5% or 133 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    2% or 77 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    0.6% or 26 total occurrences were Asian.
    0.5% or 20 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'pray' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4570

  2. Verbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'pray' in Verbs Frequency: #633

How to pronounce pray?

How to say pray in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of pray in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of pray in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of pray in a Sentence

  1. Alfredo Barnechea:

    I'm going to pray to God...to illuminate the Archbishop of Arequipa so he doesn't use the pulpit for political commentary.

  2. LaToya Cantrell:

    I will continue to pray for the families of these young souls, they have endured a level of grief that I could never imagine as parent, and I send a plea to the people of this community to rally around them as they will need continuous love and support from all of us.

  3. James Purcell:

    Our hearts reach out to all those victimized by violence and atrocious behavior by governments such as Russia. I continually look to my role as a father, grandfather and now great-grandfather to experience the type of love that keeps giving — and I continuously pray that I can extend that same love to all those victimized around the world for as long as possible.

  4. Moses Valmont:

    good and bad!!..we always get mixed with the real truths and paths concerning this two with fanaticism and hypocrisy. till darkness envelopes and you awaken to the father to learn about the real truths. but I pray ye to desire to be with his flock or face condemnation....just do what thou wilt ,conscience and his laws being your compass!!

  5. Norman Vincent Peale:

    When you pray for anyone you tend to modify your personal attitude toward him. You lift the relationship thereby to a higher level. The best in the other person begins to flow out toward you as your best flows toward him. In the meeting of the best in each a higher unity of understanding is established.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

pray#1#6947#10000

Translations for pray

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"pray." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/pray>.

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