homily

English

WOTD – 2 November 2018

Alternative forms

• hom.

Etymology 1

FromMiddle Englishomelī,omelīe,omelye,fromOld Frenchomelieand directly fromLate Latinhomīlia(“homily”),fromAncient Greekὁμιλία(homilía,“homily; instruction”),fromὅμῑλος(hómīlos,“crowd, throng”)+-ῐ́ᾱ(-íā,“suffix forming abstract feminine nouns”).ὅμῑλοςis derived fromὁμός(homós,“common; same”)+ῑ̓́λη(ī́lē,“crowd”)(fromεἴλω(eílō,“to aggregate”)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key):/ˈhɒmɪli/
• (General American,Canada)IPA^(key):/ˈhɑməli/,/ˈhɑmɪli/

• Audio(General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation:hom‧i‧ly

Noun

homily(pluralhomilies)

1. (Christianity)Asermon,especially concerning apracticalmatter.
   • c.1598–1600(date written),William Shakespeare,“As You Like It”,inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard,andEd[ward]Blount,published1623,→OCLC,[Act III, scene ii],page196,column 1:

     O moſt gentle Iupiter! What tedioushomilieof Loue haue you wearied your pariſhioners withall, and neuer cri'de, haue patience good people.

   • 1709,[Ælfric of Eynsham],Eliz[abeth] Elstob,“The Preface”, inAn English-Saxon Homily on the Birth-day of St. Gregory:[…],London: Printed byW[illiam] Bowyer,→OCLC,page lvi:

     But to return to theHomilyonSt.Gregory.It is printed from a Tranſcript I had made of it from one made by Dr.Hopkins,I believe, out of theCottonianBook,VitelliusD. 17.[…]TheHomilyis one of thoſe which were prepared byÆlfrick,to be uſed in theEngliſh SaxonChurch:[…]

   • 1998,Robert P. Waznak, “From Sermon to Homily”, inAn Introduction to the Homily,Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press,→ISBN,page16:

     [W]e must pay attention not only to the rich tradition of thehomilyin the early Church and the retrieval of this preaching form by Vatican II but also to the evolving understandings of thehomilyfrom those who have tried to respond to the changing cultural patterns, pastoral needs, and theological trends of the day.

   • 1990,Origen,“Introduction”, in Gary Wayne Barkley, transl.,Origen: Homilies on Leviticus 1–16(The Fathers o the Church;83), Washington, D.C.:The Catholic University of America Press,→ISBN,page 4:

     [W]hen one approachesOrigen'shomilies,this aspect of the work of the priest must be kept in mind. The purpose of his sermons was to instruct and to lead beginners in the faith to a higher level of understanding and maturity.

2. Amoralizinglecture.
   • 1660,Edm. Gurnay [i.e.Edmund Gurney],Gurnay Redivivus, or An Appendix unto the Homily against Images in Churches,[London]:Re-published this present year,[…]And are to be sold by J. Rothwel[…],→OCLC,page 2:

     How expreſſe and poſitive the doctrine of our Church is againſt them, our EnglishHomilyentitled Againſt the perill of idolatry, abundantly declareth;[…]

   • 1821,Lord Byron, “Cain, a Mystery”,inSardanapalus, a Tragedy; The Two Foscari, a Tragedy; Cain, a Mystery,London:John Murray,[…],→OCLC,Act II, scene ii,page385:

     But if it be as I have heard my father / Deal out in his longhomilies,'tis a thing— / Oh God! I dare no think on 't!

   • 1848,Robert Montgomery, “In Divine Things to be Neutral is to be Infidel”, inThe Gospel in Advance of the Age: Being a Homily for the Times,3rd edition, Edinburgh:T. & T. Clark,[…],→OCLC,page320:

     Will it be said, that Literature and Christianity, are two distinct things? Or, that it would be preposterous to expect that every writer should give us ahomily,when we want to laugh, or a sermon, when we wish to think?

3. Aplatitude.

Related terms

• homilete
• homiletic
• homiletical
• homiletics
• homilist

Translations

sermon

• Armenian:քարոզ(hy)(kʻaroz)
• Bulgarian:проповед(bg)f(propoved)
• Czech:kázání(cs)n,homilief
• Esperanto:prediko
• Finnish:saarna(fi)
• French:homélie(fr)f
• German:Homilie(de)f
• Greek:ομιλία(el)f(omilía),κήρυγμα(el)n(kírygma)
• Ido:homilio(io)
• Indonesian:homili(id)
• Italian:omelia(it)
• Latin:homiliaf
• Macedonian:про́поведf(própoved)
• Ottoman Turkish:وعظ(vaʼz)
• Polish:homilia(pl)f
• Portuguese:homília(pt)f
• Russian:про́поведь(ru)m(própovedʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic:searmonm
• Spanish:homilía(es)f
• Swedish:homilia(sv)

moralizing lecture

• Bulgarian:поучение(bg)n(poučenie),морал(bg)m(moral)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Thuyết giáo／Thuyết giáo(zh)(shuōjiào)

• Esperanto:prediko
• Macedonian:по́укаf(póuka)
• Russian:поуче́ние(ru)n(poučénije),наставле́ние(ru)n(nastavlénije)

platitude—seeplatitude

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (General American)IPA^(key):/ˈhoʊmɪli/,/ˈhoʊməli/

Adverb

homily(comparativemorehomily,superlativemosthomily)

1. In ahomeymanner.
   • 1980,Stephen King,Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game:

     Rocky handed it [the beer] to Bob, whose demurrals petered out as he held the can's cold actuality in his hand. It bore the smiling face of Lynn Swann. He opened it. Leo fartedhomilyto close the transaction.