Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Pray

Pray (prā), n. & v. See Pry. [Obs.] Spenser.

Pray (prā), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Prayed; p. pr. & vb. n. Praying.] [OE. preien, OF. preier, F. prier, L. precari, fr. prex, precis, a prayer, a request; akin to Skr. prach to ask, AS. frignan, frīnan, fricgan, G. fragen, Goth. fraíhnan. Cf. Deprecate, Imprecate, Precarious.] To make request with earnestness or zeal, as for something desired; to make entreaty or supplication; to offer prayer to a deity or divine being as a religious act; specifically, to address the Supreme Being with adoration, confession, supplication, and thanksgiving.

And to his goddess pitously he preyde. Chaucer.

When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Matt. vi. 6.

I pray, or (by ellipsis) Pray, I beg; I request; I entreat you; — used in asking a question, making a request, introducing a petition, etc.; as, Pray, allow me to go.

I pray, sir. why am I beaten? Shak.

Syn. — To entreat; supplicate; beg; implore; invoke; beseech; petition.

Pray, v. t. 1. To address earnest request to; to supplicate; to entreat; to implore; to beseech.

And as this earl was preyed, so did he. Chaucer.

We pray you . . . by ye reconciled to God. 2 Cor. v. 20.

2. To ask earnestly for; to seek to obtain by supplication; to entreat for.

I know not how to pray your patience. Shak.

3. To effect or accomplish by praying; as, to pray a soul out of purgatory. Milman.

To pray in aid. (Law) (a) To call in as a helper one who has an interest in the cause. Bacon. (b) A phrase often used to signify claiming the benefit of an argument. See under Aid. Mozley & W.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.