Word.ws English Dictionary

homily

Syllables: hom·i·lyUK/ˈhɒmɪli/US/ˈhɑməli/

homily noun: a sermon, especially concerning a practical matter.

Noun

homily (plural homilies)

  1. A sermon, especially concerning a practical matter.
    • O moſt gentle Iupiter! What tedious homilie of Loue haue you wearied your pariſhioners withall, and neuer cri'de, haue patience good people.c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
    • But to return to the Homily on St. Gregory. It is printed from a Tranſcript I had made of it from one made by Dr. Hopkins, I believe, out of the Cottonian Book, Vitellius D. 17. […] The Homily is one of thoſe which were prepared by Ælfrick, to be uſed in the Engliſh Saxon Church: […]1709, [Ælfric of Eynsham], Eliz[abeth] Elstob, “The Preface”, in An English-Saxon Homily on the Birth-day of St. Gregory: […], London: Printed by W[illiam] Bowyer, →OCLC, page lvi
  2. A moralizing lecture.
    • How expreſſe and poſitive the doctrine of our Church is againſt them, our English Homily entitled Againſt the perill of idolatry, abundantly declareth; […]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...
    • But if it be as I have heard my father / Deal out in his long homilies, 'tis a thing— / Oh God! I dare no think on 't!1821, Lord Byron, “Cain, a Mystery”, in Sardanapalus, a Tragedy; The Two Foscari, a Tragedy; Cain, a Mystery, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Act II, scene ii, page 385
  3. A platitude.

Adverb

US/ˈhoʊmɪli/

homily (comparative more homily, superlative most homily)

  1. In a homey manner.
    • 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 farted homily to close the transaction.1980, Stephen King, Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game

homily meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

homily in Tamil

சமய நல்லுரை, செவியறிவுறூஉ, சலிப்பூட்டும் அறிவுரை

homily in Urdu

خطبہ, وعظ

homily in Bengali

উপদেশমূলক বক্তৃতা, ধর্মোপদেশ

homily in Malayalam

മുഷിപ്പൻ ധർമ്മോപദേശം, ധർമ്മപ്രസംഗം
More languagesFewer languages
homily in Kannada
ಧರ್ಮೋಪದೇಶ, ಬುದ್ಧಿವಾದ, ಬೇಸರ ಹಿಡಿಸುವಂಥ ದೀರ್ಘ ನೀತಿಬೋಧೆ, ಧರ್ಮ ಪ್ರವಚನ
homily in Indonesian
homili

Forms of homily

Noun
pluralhomilies
alternative formhom.
Adverb
comparativemore homily
superlativemost homily

Plural of homily: homilies

Origin of homily

From Middle English omelī, omelīe, omelye, from Old French omelie and directly from Late Latin homīlia (“homily”), from Ancient Greek ὁμῑλίᾱ (homīlíā, “homily; instruction”), from ὅμῑλος (hómīlos, “crowd, throng”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming abstract feminine nouns). ὅμῑλος is derived from ὁμός (homós, “common; same”) + ῑ̓́λη (ī́lē, “crowd”) (from εἴλω (eílō, “to aggregate”)).

Questions about homily

What does homily mean?
Homily means a sermon, especially concerning a practical matter.
What is homily in Tamil?
Homily in Tamil is சமய நல்லுரை, செவியறிவுறூஉ, சலிப்பூட்டும் அறிவுரை. See Homily meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is homily?
Homily can be a noun or an adverb.
How do you pronounce homily?
Homily is pronounced /ˈhɒmɪli/ (UK).
What is the plural of homily?
The plural of homily is homilies.

Words near homily in the dictionary

  1. homilite
  2. homilize
  3. homilized
  4. homilizes
  5. homilizing
  6. homily
  7. homina
  8. homination
  9. hominess
  10. homing
  11. homing in

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: homily (page history and authors); homily (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); homily (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); homily (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); homily (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); homily (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-homily.ogg.

Cite this entry: “homily.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/homily. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.