# preach

> English word · Verb · IPA /pɹiːt͡ʃ/ · frequency rank #11,441

## Definitions
1. To give a sermon.
2. To proclaim by public discourse; to utter in a sermon or a formal religious harangue.
3. To advise or recommend earnestly.
4. To teach or instruct by preaching; to inform by preaching.
5. To give advice in an offensive or obtrusive manner.

## Etymology
From Middle English prechen, from Old French prëechier, precchier (Modern French prêcher), from Latin praedicō (“to proclaim, announce”, literally “to fore-assign, pre-dedicate”). Doublet of predicate.
The Latin word is also the source of Old English predician (“to preach”), Saterland Frisian preetje (“to preach”), West Frisian preekje (“to preach”), Dutch preken (“to preach”), German Low German preken (“to preach”), German predigen (“to preach”), Danish prædike (“to preach”), Swedish predika (“to preach”), Icelandic prédika (“to preach”), Norwegian Nynorsk preika (“to preach”).

## Easily confused with
- **preface** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/preach-vs-preface)
- **preacher** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/preach-vs-preacher)
- **preached** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/preach-vs-preached)
- **peace** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/peace-vs-preach)
- **peach** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/peach-vs-preach)
- **perch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/perch-vs-preach)
- **poach** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/poach-vs-preach)
- **peachy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/peachy-vs-preach)

## Common misspellings (9)
`perach`, `ppreach`, `praech`, `preacch`, `preachh`, `preahc`, `precah`, `prreach`, `rpeach`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/preach