Etymograph

English

sermoning

Sermoning comes from Old French sermoner.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sermoner1
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sermonen2‘to converse or say’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sermonynge3‘Talking or speaking, especially with conviction and surety’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1674sermoning3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Middle English sermonen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English sermonynge
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English sermoning
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1674, Matthew Scrivener, A Course of Divinity: “now have things been so reformed with a witness,…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sermonerWiktionary, Middle English sermonen
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sermonenWiktionary, Middle English sermonynge‘to converse or say’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sermonyngeWiktionary, English sermoning‘Talking or speaking, especially with conviction and surety’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1674sermoningWiktionary, English sermoning. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1674, Matthew Scrivener, A Course of Divinity: “now have things been so reformed with a witness,…”

Formed from sermon + -ing

Middle English sermoun ‘a sermon’

English sermon

Every English word from Old French sermoner

Today it means

noun The act of discoursing; instruction; preaching.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sermoning”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Middle English sermonen, Middle English sermonynge. 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 / Old French sermoner / sermoning

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