prayer means A practice of communicating with one's God, or with some spiritual entity. It carries an Arena rating of 1673, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, prayer ranks #1,476 of 17,132 for Most Beautiful Words, #1,982 of 17,136 for Most Malleable Words, #3,193 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #3,645 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
prayer is pronounced /pɹɛə/.
Why “prayer” is a great word
A practice or specific act of communicating with a deity or spiritual entity, often through set words or methods. From Middle English *preiere*, from Old French *preiere*, from Early Medieval Latin *precāria* ('obtained by entreaty, prayer'), derived from Latin *precem*, singular of *preces* ('prayer, request, entreaty'), from the Proto-Indo-European root *prek-* ('to ask, request'). Unlike an 'orison,' which suggests a formal, liturgical solemnity, or a 'bead,' which has contracted from the act of prayer to its mere counting-token, 'prayer' remains the plain word for the thing itself: not the artifact, not the performance, but the direct address. It is the whispered plea in a dark room, the hands pressed flat against a kitchen table, the breath held in a waiting room—the body remembering what the mind dares not name, as if repetition could wear a groove into the silence of the universe and make it answer.
Etymology
From Middle English preiere, from Old French preiere, from Early Medieval Latin precāria, derived from Latin precem. Displaced native Old English ġebed (whence modern English bead).
noun
- A practice of communicating with one's God, or with some spiritual entity.e.g.“Through prayer I ask for God's guidance.”
- An act of praying.
- The specific words or methods used for praying.e.g.“Christians recite the Lord's Prayer.”
- A meeting held for the express purpose of praying.e.g.“Grandpa never misses a chance to go to prayer.”
- A request; a petition.e.g.“This, your honor, is my prayer; that all here be set free.”
- The remotest hope or chance.e.g.“That team doesn't have a prayer of winning the championship.”
- One who prays.e.g.“If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar / A hope-er^([sic]), a pray-er^([sic]), a magic bean buyer…” — 1974, Shel Silverstein, “Invitation”, in Where the Sidewalk Ends, Harper Collins Publishers:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).