What does prayer mean?
Definitions for prayer
ˈpreɪ ərprayer
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word prayer.
Princeton's WordNet
prayer, supplication(noun)
the act of communicating with a deity (especially as a petition or in adoration or contrition or thanksgiving)
"the priest sank to his knees in prayer"
prayer, petition, orison(noun)
reverent petition to a deity
entreaty, prayer, appeal(noun)
earnest or urgent request
"an entreaty to stop the fighting"; "an appeal for help"; "an appeal to the public to keep calm"
prayer(noun)
a fixed text used in praying
prayer, supplicant(noun)
someone who prays to God
Webster Dictionary
Prayer(noun)
one who prays; a supplicant
Prayer(verb)
the act of praying, or of asking a favor; earnest request or entreaty; hence, a petition or memorial addressed to a court or a legislative body
Prayer(verb)
the act of addressing supplication to a divinity, especially to the true God; the offering of adoration, confession, supplication, and thanksgiving to the Supreme Being; as, public prayer; secret prayer
Prayer(verb)
the form of words used in praying; a formula of supplication; an expressed petition; especially, a supplication addressed to God; as, a written or extemporaneous prayer; to repeat one's prayers
Freebase
Prayer
Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with a deity, an object of worship, or a spiritual entity through deliberate communication. Prayer can be a form of religious practice, may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of a hymn, incantation, formal creed, or a spontaneous utterance in the praying person. There are different forms of prayer such as petitionary prayer, prayers of supplication, thanksgiving, and worship/praise. Prayer may be directed towards a deity, spirit, deceased person, or lofty idea, for the purpose of worshipping, requesting guidance, requesting assistance, confessing sins or to express one's thoughts and emotions. Thus, people pray for many reasons such as personal benefit or for the sake of others. Yoga is also a common form of prayer. Most major religions involve prayer in one way or another. Some ritualize the act of prayer, requiring a strict sequence of actions or placing a restriction on who is permitted to pray, while others teach that prayer may be practiced spontaneously by anyone at any time. Scientific studies regarding the use of prayer have mostly concentrated on its effect on the healing of sick or injured people. Meta-studies of the studies in this field have been performed showing evidence only for no effect or a potentially small effect. For instance, a 2006 meta analysis on 14 studies concluded that there is "no discernable effect" while a 2007 systemic review of intercessory prayer reported inconclusive results, noting that 7 of 17 studies had "small, but significant, effect sizes" but the review noted that the most methodologically rigorous studies failed to produce significant findings. The efficacy of petition in prayer for physical healing to a deity has been evaluated in numerous other studies, with contradictory results. There has been some criticism of the way the studies were conducted.
The Roycroft Dictionary
prayer
A supplication intended for the person who prays. Only very dull people doubt its efficacy.
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'prayer' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4373
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'prayer' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4732
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'prayer' in Nouns Frequency: #1354
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of prayer in Chaldean Numerology is: 1
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of prayer in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2
Examples of prayer in a Sentence
It came out of nowhere and the company did not want to listen to some suggestions and options to make the current breaks more flexible to align with the prayer schedule.
In certain trying circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity furnishes a relief denied even to prayer.
We want to respond to the pandemic of the virus with the universality of prayer, of compassion, of tenderness, let's remain united.
For this is Wisdom to love, to live To take what fate, or the Gods may give. To ask no question, to make no prayer, To kiss the lips and caress the hair, Speed passion's ebb as you greet its flow To have, - to hold - and - in time, - let go
Some pray to marry the man they love, my prayer will somewhat vary I humbly pray to heaven above that I love the man I marry.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for prayer
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- صلاةArabic
- dua, namazAzerbaijani
- доға, намазBashkir
- малітваBelarusian
- молитваBulgarian
- pregària, rés, oracióCatalan, Valencian
- modlitbaCzech
- bønDanish
- Gebet, PredigerGerman
- ނަމާދުDivehi
- προσευχή, συμπροσευχή, προσευχόμενος, ικεσίαGreek
- preĝoEsperanto
- oración, orador, oradoraSpanish
- palveEstonian
- otoitz, otoizlari, otoi, otoizgile, otoitzaldiBasque
- نمازPersian
- pyyntö, rukoileminen, rukoilla, rukoushetki, rukousFinnish
- prièreFrench
- guí, urnaí, paidirIrish
- ùrnaighScottish Gaelic
- תפילהHebrew
- नमाज़, प्रार्थनाHindi
- imaHungarian
- աղոթքArmenian
- sembahyang, salat, solatIndonesian
- prece, preghiera, pregatore, orazioneItalian
- תפילהHebrew
- 祈り, 祈祷Japanese
- ლოცვაGeorgian
- дұға, бата, намазKazakh
- ធម៌Khmer
- 기도, 祈禱Korean
- dua, nivêj, نوێژ, نوێژکهرKurdish
- намаз, дубаKyrgyz
- oratioLatin
- GebietLuxembourgish, Letzeburgesch
- ພາວະນາLao
- maldaLithuanian
- lūgšanaLatvian
- karakiaMāori
- молитва, молење, молбаMacedonian
- залбиралMongolian
- sembahyang, solatMalay
- bede, gebed, biddenDutch
- bønn, bønnemøteNorwegian
- sodizinNavajo, Navaho
- prègaOccitan
- modlitwa, pragnienie, modłyPolish
- لمونځPashto, Pushto
- reza, prece, oração, petição, orador, rezador, missa, cultoPortuguese
- uraziun, oraziun, urazchun, uraztgùnRomansh
- rugăciuneRomanian
- молебен, мольба, намаз, молитваRussian
- प्रार्थनाSanskrit
- mòlitva, moliti, molba, мо̀литваSerbo-Croatian
- modlitbaSlovak
- molitevSlovene
- lutje, namaziAlbanian
- förbön, bön, bedjare, förbedjareSwedish
- swala, swaliSwahili
- ప్రార్థనTelugu
- намозTajik
- การสวดมนต์, การภาวนา, การอธิษฐานThai
- namaz, doga, dilegTurkmen
- dasalTagalog
- dua, namazTurkish
- намазTatar
- نامازUyghur, Uighur
- молитваUkrainian
- نمازUrdu
- namoz, duoUzbek
- kinh cầu nguyệnVietnamese
- תּפֿילהYiddish
- 祈祷Chinese
Get even more translations for prayer »
Translation
Find a translation for the prayer definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
"prayer." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2021. Web. 26 Feb. 2021. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/prayer>.