homily

Home > ... > Literature and the Arts > Language, Linguistics, and Literary Terms > Literature: General > ...

Essential reading Compare
side-by-side The Concise Oxford Dictionary ... The Oxford Pocket Dictionary ... The Columbia Encyclopedia, ...

homily

homily , type of oral religious instruction delivered to a church congregation. In the patristic period through the Middle Ages the focus of the homily was on the explanation and application of texts read or sung during the celebration of the liturgy. Works of literature giving moral advice are also called homilies. Ælfric wrote many homilies.

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1E1-homily" title="Facts and information about homily">homily</a>

Give this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

"homily." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"homily." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (December 1, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-homily.html

"homily." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved December 01, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-homily.html

Learn more about citation styles

homily

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | © The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2009, originally published by Oxford University Press 2009. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

hom·i·ly / ˈhäməlē/ • n. (pl. -lies) a religious discourse that is intended primarily for spiritual edification rather than doctrinal instruction; a sermon. ∎ a tedious moralizing discourse: she delivered her homily about the need for patience. DERIVATIVES: hom·i·list / -list/ n. ORIGIN: late Middle English: via Old French from ecclesiastical Latin homilia, from Greek, ‘discourse, conversation’ (in ecclesiastical use, ‘sermon’), from homilos ‘crowd.’

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O999-homily" title="Facts and information about homily">homily</a>

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

"homily." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"homily." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (December 1, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-homily.html

"homily." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved December 01, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-homily.html

Learn more about citation styles

homily

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Â© The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology 1996, originally published by Oxford University Press 1996. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

homily XIV. ME. omelie — OF. omelie (mod. homélie) — ecclL. homīlia — Gr. homīlíā intercourse, discourse, (eccl.) sermon, f. hómīlos crowd, f. homoū together + ilē crowd, troop; see -Y3. Finally assim. to the L. form in XVI.
So homiletic XVII. — late L. — Gr. homīlētikós, f. homīlētós, vbl. adj. of homīleîn consort or hold converse with.

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O27-homily" title="Facts and information about homily">homily</a>

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

T. F. HOAD. "homily." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "homily." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (December 1, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-homily.html

T. F. HOAD. "homily." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved December 01, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-homily.html

Learn more about citation styles

Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries and thesauruses

Rate these entries|See all related entries

Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Common wisdom: Luqman the Wise in a collection of Coptic Orthodox homilies. Magazine article from: Currents in Theology and Mission; 6/1/2006
	Critic hears well-developed homily in Virginia. (preaching priest evaluated by Dominican John Burke; part 1)(Preaching) Magazine article from: National Catholic Reporter; 8/1/1997
	`Our homilies are all around us'. Magazine article from: National Catholic Reporter; 3/24/2000

Facts and information from other sites

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

	Old English Homilies from MS Bodley 343. Magazine article from: Philological Quarterly; 9/22/1993; ; 700+ words ; ...manuscript. She presents the homilies by AElfric, which are all...Pope's important edition (Homilies of AElfric: a Supplementary...Press, 1967-68]). Each homily is provided with an individual...textual relations of all the homilies in the manuscript and of the...
	"Necessary For These Times".(The Homilies Appointed To Be Read In Churches)(Book review) Magazine article from: Modern Age; 1/1/2009; ; 700+ words ; ...have lost sight of these homilies is a disgrace. Cranmer...author of the eleventh homily, "Against Whoredom...book of twenty-three homilies appeared probably under...Jewel. A final long homily "Against Disobedience...rebellion of 1570. The Homilies were crucial expositions...
	One bishop's legacy: how to save the homily. Magazine article from: Commonweal; 2/25/2005; ; 700+ words ; ...readers that composing a homily is an essential part...about the quality of the homilies they heard; he used...respondents. To keep homilies brief, Untener recommends...some depth. Giving a homily is a labor--of love...There will be no depth in homilies without corresponding...
	Reflections on preaching the Word of God. (sermons and homilies) Magazine article from: America; 3/19/1994; ; 700+ words ; ...reflect on what makes any homily successful, not just...that the most effective homilies are those that observe...the purpose of the homily is to proclaim the word...reverence them by offering a homily of substance. I mean...theological tract. Homilies should be substantive...
	Origen: Homilies on Jeremiah and 1 Kings 28 Magazine article from: Anglican Theological Review; 7/1/1999; ; 700+ words ; ...Smith for making available for the first time in English Origen's homilies on Jeremiah and his homily on 1 Kings 28 (LXX). The twenty homilies on Jeremiah and the homily on The Witch of Endor are the only ones that survive in Greek. Smith...
	'A homily should challenge you to action' Newspaper article from: Deseret News (Salt Lake City); 5/24/2003; ; 700+ words ; ...part to be the sermon or homily. In a short religion...explained how priests compose homilies, and he turned a talk...challenge of giving a homily during Mass at the state...most difficult are the homilies about young people who...minister hopes so. "A homily should challenge you...
	Justification by faith in the two Books of Homilies (1547 and 1571) Magazine article from: Anglican Theological Review; 4/1/2001; ; 700+ words ; Background to the 1547 Book of Homilies Read in every church and heard of all...duty they owe both God and man"-these Homilies were probably, next to the Book of Common...ignore these two books.1 The Books of Homilies of 1547 and 1571 were compiled with a...
	Eloquent homilies of an Irish priest graced Duluth diocese; A new book compiled by a Mahtomedi woman collects the poetic homilies of the late Rev. Michael Hayes.(SOURCE)(FAITH & VALUES) Newspaper article from: Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN); 1/21/2006; ; 700+ words ; ...Michael Hayes delivered a homily, he sought to surprise...fill a collection of homilies written by the Irish...he often wrote his homilies in cafes as he smoked...He began sending her homilies in his "Gaelic" handwriting...the gambling-themed homily quoted above, for instance...
	Dubuque priest's homilies given second life Newspaper article from: Telegraph - Herald (Dubuque); 11/8/2008; ; 629 words ; 'Sunday Homilies' n "We live out the moral mission to attend to those...affirmation, any response." -- Excerpts from "Sunday Homilies" News You Can Use For a copy of "Sunday Homilies" by the Rev. Robert Beck, contact Sister Marie Therese...
	The homily as icon.(the best homilies are those that create an image) Magazine article from: America; 11/4/1995; ; 700+ words ; ...discussing our varied experience of homilies, his as a receiver and mine as a...when you get down to it, a good homily is really an icon." The simple...from our common experience that the homilies that most touch us are image-based...