Prayer — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

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

reverent petition to a deity

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/pɹˈɛɹ/

🇬🇧British English

/pɹˈeə/

🇮🇳Indian English

/pɹˈeə/

1 syllable Say it as /pɹˈɛɹ/.

Examples

the priest sank to his knees in prayer
an entreaty to stop the fighting
an appeal for help

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

supplication supplicant entreaty appeal orison petition

Parts of Speech

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”
noun	reverent petition to a deity
noun	earnest or urgent request “an entreaty to stop the fighting”
noun	a fixed text used in praying
noun	someone who prays to God

Word Forms

pray	verb	address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer
appeal	verb	request earnestly (something from somebody); ask for aid or protection

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

Gebet

der Akt der Kommunikation mit einer Gottheit (insbesondere als Bitte, Anbetung, Reue oder Danksagung)

🇫🇷French

prière

l'acte de communiquer avec une divinité (notamment sous forme de pétition ou d'adoration ou de contrition ou d'action de grâce)

🇪🇸Spanish

oración

el acto de comunicarse con una deidad (especialmente como petición o en adoración, contrición o acción de gracias)

🇮🇹Italian

preghiera

l'atto di comunicare con una divinità (specialmente come petizione o in adorazione, contrizione o ringraziamento)

🇳🇱Dutch

gebed

de handeling van het communiceren met een godheid (vooral als een petitie of uit aanbidding, berouw of dankzegging)

🇵🇹Portuguese

oração

o ato de comunicar-se com uma divindade (especialmente como uma petição ou em adoração ou contrição ou ação de graças)

🇷🇺Russian

молитва

акт общения с божеством (особенно в виде прошения, поклонения, раскаяния или благодарения)

India

🇮🇳Hindi

प्रार्थना

किसी देवता के साथ संवाद करने का कार्य (विशेष रूप से एक याचिका के रूप में या आराधना या पश्चाताप या धन्यवाद के रूप में)

🇧🇩Bengali

প্রার্থনা

একটি দেবতার সাথে যোগাযোগের কাজ (বিশেষত একটি আবেদন বা আরাধনা বা অনুশোচনা বা ধন্যবাদ হিসাবে)

🇮🇳Tamil

பிரார்த்தனை

ஒரு தெய்வத்துடன் தொடர்பு கொள்ளும் செயல் (குறிப்பாக ஒரு மனுவாக அல்லது வணக்கம் அல்லது வருந்துதல் அல்லது நன்றி செலுத்துதல்)

🇮🇳Telugu

ప్రార్థన

ఒక దేవతతో కమ్యూనికేట్ చేసే చర్య (ముఖ్యంగా పిటిషన్‌గా లేదా ఆరాధన లేదా పశ్చాత్తాపం లేదా కృతజ్ఞతగా)

🇮🇳Marathi

प्रार्थना

देवतेशी संवाद साधण्याची कृती (विशेषत: याचिका किंवा पूजा किंवा पश्चाताप किंवा धन्यवाद म्हणून)

🇮🇳Gujarati

પ્રાર્થના

દેવતા સાથે વાતચીત કરવાની ક્રિયા (ખાસ કરીને અરજી તરીકે અથવા આરાધના અથવા પસ્તાવો અથવા થેંક્સગિવીંગ તરીકે)

🇮🇳Kannada

ಪ್ರಾರ್ಥನೆ

ದೇವತೆಯೊಂದಿಗೆ ಸಂವಹನ ನಡೆಸುವ ಕ್ರಿಯೆ (ವಿಶೇಷವಾಗಿ ಮನವಿಯಾಗಿ ಅಥವಾ ಆರಾಧನೆ ಅಥವಾ ಪಶ್ಚಾತ್ತಾಪ ಅಥವಾ ಕೃತಜ್ಞತೆ)

🇮🇳Malayalam

പ്രാർത്ഥന

ഒരു ദേവനുമായി ആശയവിനിമയം നടത്തുന്ന പ്രവൃത്തി (പ്രത്യേകിച്ച് ഒരു നിവേദനം അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ആരാധന അല്ലെങ്കിൽ അനുതാപം അല്ലെങ്കിൽ നന്ദി)

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਪ੍ਰਾਰਥਨਾ

ਕਿਸੇ ਦੇਵਤੇ ਨਾਲ ਸੰਚਾਰ ਕਰਨ ਦੀ ਕਿਰਿਆ (ਖ਼ਾਸਕਰ ਪਟੀਸ਼ਨ ਵਜੋਂ ਜਾਂ ਪੂਜਾ ਜਾਂ ਤੌਹੀਨ ਜਾਂ ਧੰਨਵਾਦ ਵਜੋਂ)

🇵🇰Urdu

دعا

دیوتا کے ساتھ بات چیت کرنے کا عمل (خاص طور پر درخواست کے طور پر یا تعظیم یا تعزیت یا شکریہ میں)

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

祷告

与神灵沟通的行为（尤其是作为请愿或崇拜或忏悔或感恩）

🇯🇵Japanese

祈り

神とコミュニケーションをとる行為（特に請願、崇拝、悔い改め、感謝の気持ちとして）

🇰🇷Korean

기도

신과 소통하는 행위(특히 청원이나 숭배, 통회 또는 감사의 의미로)

🇻🇳Vietnamese

cầu nguyện

hành động giao tiếp với một vị thần (đặc biệt là như một lời thỉnh cầu hoặc trong sự tôn thờ hoặc ăn năn hoặc tạ ơn)

🇹🇭Thai

คำอธิษฐาน

การติดต่อสื่อสารกับเทพ (โดยเฉพาะอย่างยิ่งเป็นการวิงวอนหรือแสดงความเคารพหรือสำนึกผิดหรือขอบพระคุณ)

🇮🇩Indonesian

doa

tindakan berkomunikasi dengan dewa (terutama sebagai permohonan atau pemujaan atau penyesalan atau ucapan syukur)

🇵🇭Filipino

panalangin

ang pagkilos ng pakikipag-usap sa isang diyos (lalo na bilang isang petisyon o sa pagsamba o pagsisisi o pasasalamat)

🇲🇾Malay

solat

perbuatan berkomunikasi dengan dewa (terutama sebagai petisyen atau dalam pemujaan atau penyesalan atau kesyukuran)

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

الصلاة

فعل التواصل مع الإله (خاصة في شكل التماس أو في العشق أو الندم أو الشكر)

🇮🇷Persian

دعا

عمل برقراری ارتباط با یک خدا (به ویژه به عنوان یک عریضه یا برای ستایش یا پشیمانی یا شکرگزاری)

🇹🇷Turkish

namaz

bir tanrıyla iletişim kurma eylemi (özellikle bir dilekçe olarak veya hayranlık, pişmanlık veya şükran olarak)

🇮🇱Hebrew

תְפִלָה

מעשה התקשורת עם אלוהות (במיוחד כעצומה או בהערצה או חרטה או הודיה)

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'prayer'?

The primary meaning of 'prayer' is 'the act of communicating with a deity (especially as a petition or in adoration or contrition or thanksgiving)'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'prayer' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'prayer' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'prayer' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'prayer' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'prayer' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'prayer' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'prayer' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'prayer' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'prayer' in a professional email?

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not very likely

Never

Would you classify 'prayer' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

Pick an option to see how others voted