prayer

Other forms: prayers

A prayer is something you say to a god or deity. Your prayer can be silent words of thanks or a plea for help that's spoken out loud.

Most religious believers say a prayer from time to time. While some people might use prayer as part of their plan for recovering from an illness, others bend their heads in prayer whenever they attend church or temple services. You can also say a non-religious prayer, just an entreaty or request for help. Prayer, from the Old French prier, has a Latin root: precaria, "obtained by prayer or given as a favor."

Definitions of prayer

1. noun

   reverent petition to a deity
   synonyms: orison, petition

   types:

   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

   rosary

   a series of devotional prayers recited by Roman Catholics and often counted using a string of beads

   benison

   a spoken blessing

   rogation

   a solemn supplication ceremony prescribed by the church

   type of:

   asking, request

   the verbal act of requesting
2. noun

   earnest or urgent request
   synonyms: appeal, entreaty

   types:

   adjuration

   a solemn and earnest appeal to someone to do something

   demagoguery, demagogy

   impassioned appeals to the prejudices and emotions of the populace

   plea, supplication

   a humble request for help from someone in authority

   solicitation

   an entreaty addressed to someone of superior status

   suit

   a petition or appeal made to a person of superior status or rank

   courting, courtship, suit, wooing

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

   flag waving, jingoism

   an appeal intended to arouse patriotic emotions

   beggary, begging, mendicancy

   a solicitation for money or food (especially in the street by an apparently penniless person)

   touch

   the act of soliciting money (as a gift or loan)

   importunity, urgency, urging

   insistent solicitation and entreaty

   bundling

   a onetime custom during courtship of unmarried couples occupying the same bed without undressing

   type of:

   asking, request

   the verbal act of requesting
3. 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”

   synonyms: supplication

   types:

   devotion

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

   benediction, blessing

   the act of praying for divine protection

   bhakti

   (Hinduism) loving devotion to a deity leading to salvation and nirvana; open to all persons independent of caste or sex

   novena

   a Roman Catholic devotion consisting of prayers on nine consecutive days

   Stations, Stations of the Cross

   (Roman Catholic Church) a devotion consisting of fourteen prayers said before a series of fourteen pictures or carvings representing successive incidents during Jesus' passage from Pilate's house to his crucifixion at Calvary

   type of:

   worship

   the activity of worshipping
4. noun

   a fixed text used in praying
   examples:

   Angelus

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

   Ave Maria

   a salutation to the Virgin Mary now used in prayers to her

   Canticle of Simeon

   the prayer of Simeon (Luke 2:29-32)

   Evening Prayer

   (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)

   types:

   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

   type of:

   religious text, religious writing, sacred text, sacred writing

   writing that is venerated for the worship of a deity