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PRAYER
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of communicating with a deity (especially as a petition or in adoration or contrition or thanksgiving)
Example:
the priest sank to his knees in prayer
Synonyms:
prayer; supplication
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("prayer" is a kind of...):
worship (the activity of worshipping)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "prayer"):
devotion ((usually plural) religious observance or prayers (usually spoken silently))
benediction; blessing (the act of praying for divine protection)
Derivation:
pray (address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer)
Sense 2
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 3
Meaning:
Earnest or urgent request
Example:
an appeal to the public to keep calm
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("prayer" is a kind of...):
asking; request (the verbal act of requesting)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "prayer"):
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)
plea; supplication (a humble request for help from someone in authority)
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:
Reverent petition to a deity
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
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 5
Meaning:
Someone who prays to God
Synonyms:
prayer; supplicant
Classified under:
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:
Elementary school students sang, Elder Nelson White provided a prayer, and the buffalo were released from a livestock trailer into a into a 48-acre space set aside for them in Kinnear.
(Northern Arapaho Tribe welcomes buffalo herd in Wyoming, United States, Wikinews)
The tone, the look, with which Thank God! was uttered by Captain Wentworth, Anne was sure could never be forgotten by her; nor the sight of him afterwards, as he sat near a table, leaning over it with folded arms and face concealed, as if overpowered by the various feelings of his soul, and trying by prayer and reflection to calm them.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Em'ly, said he, arter you left her, ma'am—and I never heerd her saying of her prayers at night, t'other side the canvas screen, when we was settled in the Bush, but what I heerd your name—and arter she and me lost sight of Mas'r Davy, that theer shining sundown—was that low, at first, that, if she had know'd then what Mas'r Davy kep from us so kind and thowtful, 'tis my opinion she'd have drooped away.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
I could have screamed aloud; I sought with tears and prayers to smother down the crowd of hideous images and sounds with which my memory swarmed against me; and still, between the petitions, the ugly face of my iniquity stared into my soul.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Their increasing attachment was not to be satisfied with half a dozen turns in the pump-room, but required, when they all quitted it together, that Miss Thorpe should accompany Miss Morland to the very door of Mr. Allen's house; and that they should there part with a most affectionate and lengthened shake of hands, after learning, to their mutual relief, that they should see each other across the theatre at night, and say their prayers in the same chapel the next morning.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
The idea of Edward's being a clergyman, and living in a small parsonage-house, diverted him beyond measure;—and when to that was added the fanciful imagery of Edward reading prayers in a white surplice, and publishing the banns of marriage between John Smith and Mary Brown, he could conceive nothing more ridiculous.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
It is a noble prayer, he remarked, putting on his hat again, and it was taught to me by the noble Chandos himself.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
His nature was not changed by one hour of solemn prayer: it was only elevated.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
A sermon, well delivered, is more uncommon even than prayers well read.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
“Well,” said I, “I'll cut you some tobacco, but if I was you and thought myself so badly, I would go to my prayers like a Christian man.”
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
