English
preach
Preach comes from Middle English prechen ‘to preach’, from Latin praedicō ‘to proclaim, announce’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- ‘straight, upright, right’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yew-1‘straight, upright, right’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yéwos1uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*jowos1‘court of law’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūs1‘law, right’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdex1‘judge’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdicō2‘to judge’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdicō3‘dedicate, assign to’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraedicō4‘to proclaim, announce’literally ‘to fore-assign, pre-dedicate’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400prëechier4
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500prechen4‘to preach’
- Englishearliest quotation 1560preach4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin iudico
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin dico, which cites de Vaan
- 3 Wiktionary, Latin praedico
- 4 Wiktionary, English preach
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1560, [William Whittingham et al., Geneva: […] Rouland Hall: “The Spirit of the Lord God is vpon me,…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yew-Wiktionary, Latin iudico‘straight, upright, right’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yéwosWiktionary, Latin iudicouncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*jowosWiktionary, Latin iudico‘court of law’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūsWiktionary, Latin iudico‘law, right’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdexWiktionary, Latin iudico‘judge’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdicōWiktionary, Latin dico, which cites de Vaan‘to judge’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdicōWiktionary, Latin praedico‘dedicate, assign to’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraedicōWiktionary, English preach‘to proclaim, announce’literally ‘to fore-assign, pre-dedicate’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400prëechierWiktionary, English preach
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500prechenWiktionary, English preach‘to preach’
- Englishearliest quotation 1560preachWiktionary, English preach. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1560, [William Whittingham et al., Geneva: […] Rouland Hall: “The Spirit of the Lord God is vpon me,…”
The story
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’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- ‘straight, upright, right’
yet, jurist, injurious, 22 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂yéwos
justify, justification, injustice, 21 more
through Proto-Italic *jowos ‘court of law’
through Latin iūs ‘law, right’
through Latin iūdex ‘judge’
through Latin iūdicō ‘to judge’
judge, judgment, judicial, judiciary, prejudice, judicious, adjudicate, judicature, 11 more
through Latin dicō ‘dedicate, assign to’
index, indicate, indication, dictionary, dedication, indicator, addict, dictator, dictate, dedicate, contradictory, contradiction, ditto, contradict, diction, ditty, dictum, interdict, dict, indicia, 22 more
through Latin praedicō ‘to proclaim, announce’
Today it means
verb To give a sermon.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “preach”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin iudico, Latin dico, Latin praedico. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- / preach