# prayer
## English
### Etymology 1

From Middle English preiere, from Old French preiere, from Early Medieval Latin precāria, derived from Latin precem. Displaced native Old English ġebed.

#### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /pɹɛə(ɹ)/
* (US) enPR: prâr, prāʹər, IPA: /pɹɛɚ/, /ˈpɹɛɹ/, /ˈpɹeɪəɹ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ), -eɪə(ɹ)

#### Noun

prayer (countable and uncountable, plural prayers)
* (uncountable) A practice of communicating with one's God, or with some spiritual entity.
    Through prayer I ask for God's guidance.
    In many cultures, prayer involves singing.
* (countable) An act of praying.
** 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […] , down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.
** 2020 December, Dave Barry, Year in review:In that spirit, we’ll close with the wish we always offer at the end of our annual review, although this time it’s more of a prayer: Happy new year.
* The specific words or methods used for praying.
    Christians recite the Lord's Prayer.
    For Baha'is there's a difference between obligatory and devotional prayer.
* A meeting held for the express purpose of praying.
    Grandpa never misses a chance to go to prayer.
* (countable) A request; a petition.
    This, your honor, is my prayer; that all here be set free.
* (in the singular, mostly in negative constructions) The remotest hope or chance.
    That team doesn't have a prayer of winning the championship.

##### Synonyms

* orison, precation
* bead (archaic)

##### Derived terms

* arrow prayer
* call to prayer
* dawn prayer
* evening prayer
* friday prayer
* house of prayer
* morning prayer
* not have a prayer
* on a wing and a prayer
* prayer bead
* prayer beads
* prayer book
* prayer bump
* prayer card
* prayer circle
* prayer flag
* prayer for relief
* prayer mat
* prayer meeting
* prayer mill
* prayer-monger
* prayer plant
* prayer room
* prayer rope
* prayer rug
* prayer shawl
* Prayers of the People
* prayer wheel
* psychic prayer
* sinner's prayer
* sunset prayer
* the answer to a maiden's prayer
* wing and prayer

##### Translations

Adyghe: дыухьэ (dəwuḥɛ)
Afrikaans: gebed (af)
Albanian: lutje (sq)
Amharic: ጸሎት (ṣälot)
Apache:
Western Apache: ʼokąąhí
Arabic: صَلَاة f (ṣalāh), دُعَاء m (duʕāʔ)
Egyptian Arabic: صلا f (ṣála)
Hijazi Arabic: صلاة f (ṣalā), دُعا m (duʕa)
Aramaic:
Classical Syriac: ܨܠܘܬܐ f (ṣəlōṯā)
Jewish Aramaic: צְלוֹתָא f (ṣəlôṯā)
Armenian: աղոթք (hy) (aġotʻkʻ)
Assamese: প্ৰাৰ্থনা (prarthona)
Asturian: oración f
Avar: дугӏа (duʻa)
Azerbaijani: dua (az), namaz (az)
Balinese: mantra, japa, saa
Bashkir: доға (doğa), намаҙ (namaź)
Basque: otoitz (eu), otoi
Belarusian: малі́тва (be) f (malítva)
Bengali: প্রার্থনা (bn) (prarthona), নামাজ (bn) (namaj), সালাত (bn) (śalat), দোয়া (bn) (dōẇa)
Bikol Central: pangadyi (bcl)
Bulgarian: моли́тва (bg) f (molítva)
Burmese: ပတ္ထနာ (my) (pathta.na)
Carpathian Rusyn: молитва f (molytva)
Catalan: oració (ca), pregària (ca)
Central Dusun: samb̲ayang
Chakma: please add this translation if you can
Chinese:
Cantonese: 祈禱 / 祈祷 (kei$^4$ tou$^2$)
Dungan: дўвар (dwvar)
Hokkien: 祈禱 / 祈祷 (zh-min-nan) (kî-tó)
Mandarin: 祈禱 / 祈祷 (zh) (qídǎo)
Chuvash: кӗлӗ (kĕlĕ)
Czech: modlitba (cs) f
Danish: bøn (da) c
Dhivehi: ނަމާދު (namādu)
Dutch: gebed (nl) n
Egyptian: (zšꜣ), (nḥ)
Estonian: palve
Faroese: bøn f
Finnish: rukous (fi), rukoileminen (fi)
French: prière (fr) f
Friulian: preiere f, orazion, jaculatorie
Galician: oración (gl) f, orazón f
Georgian: ლოცვა (locva)
German: Gebet (de) n
Gothic: 𐌱𐌹𐌳𐌰 f (bida), (request) 𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍂𐍉𐌽𐍃 f (aihtrōns)
Greek: προσευχή (el) f (prosefchí)
Ancient: εὐχή f (eukhḗ)
Gujarati: પ્રાર્થના (prārthanā)
Hausa: salla (ha)
Hebrew: תפילה \ תְּפִלָּה (he) f (t'filá)
Hindi: प्रार्थना (hi) m (prārthanā), नमाज़ f (namāz) (Islam), दुआ (hi) f (duā), सलात (hi) f (salāt) (Islam)
Hungarian: ima (hu)
Icelandic: bæn (is) f
Indonesian: sembahyang (id), salat (id), solat (id)
Ingrian: malitva, rissimä (obsolete)
Ingush: дуӏа (duˀa)
Iranun: please add this translation if you can
Irish: guí f, urnaí m
Old Irish: guide f
Italian: preghiera (it) f, orazione (it) f, prece (it)
Japanese: 祈り (ja) (いのり, inori), 祈祷 (ja) (きとう, kitō)
Javanese: please add this translation if you can
Kannada: ಪ್ರಾರ್ಥನೆ (kn) (prārthane)
Kazakh: бата (kk) (bata), намаз (namaz), дұға (dūğa), мінәжат (mınäjat)
Khmer: ធម៌ (km) (thɔə)
Korean: 기도(祈禱) (ko) (gido), 빔 (bim)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: نوێژ (ckb) (nwêj)
Northern Kurdish: nivêj (ku) f
Kyrgyz: дуба (ky) (duba), намаз (ky) (namaz)
Ladin: please add this translation if you can
Lao: ພາວະນາ (phā wa nā), ອະຖິຖານ (ʼa thi thān)
Latin: prex f, precatio f
Latvian: lūgšana (lv) f
Lezgi: дуьа (düa)
Ligurian: preghëa f
Lithuanian: malda (lt) f
Lombard: orazión f
Lü: please add this translation if you can
Luxembourgish: Gebiet n
Macedonian: молитва (mk) f (molitva)
Maguindanao: cadsambayang
Malay: sembahyang, solat (ms)
Malayalam: പ്രാർത്ഥന (ml) (prāṟtthana)
Maori: karakia
Maranao: sambayang
Marwari: गुजारिस (gujāris)
Minangkabau: doa (min)
Mon: please add this translation if you can
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: залбирал (mn) (zalbiral)
Mongolian: ᠵᠠᠯᠪᠠᠷᠢᠯ (ǰalbaril)
Navajo: sodizin
Nepali: please add this translation if you can
Norman: priéthe f
Northern Sami: please add this translation if you can
Northern Thai: please add this translation if you can
Norwegian:
Bokmål: bønn (no) m or f
Nynorsk: bønn f
Occitan: prèga
Odia: ପ୍ରାର୍ଥନା (prārthanā)
Ojibwe: anami'ewin
Okinawan: かみにげー (kaminigē), 御願 (うぐゎん, ugwan)
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: молитва f (molitva)
Glagolitic: ⰿⱁⰾⰻⱅⰲⰰ f (molitva)
Old East Slavic: молитва f (molitva)
Old English: ġebed n
Oromo: kadhata
Ottoman Turkish: دعا (duʼâ), نماز (namâz)
Pannonian Rusyn: молитва f (molitva)
Pashto: لمونځ (ps) m (lmunz), صلات m (salāt), دعا (ps) f (do'ā)
Persian:
Iranian Persian: نَماز (namâz), دُعا (do'â), صَلات (salât)
Piedmontese: orassion f
Plautdietsch: Jebäd n
Polish: modlitwa (pl) f, modły (pl) f pl
Portuguese: oração (pt), prece (pt), reza (pt)
Punjabi: ਪ੍ਰਾਰਥਨਾ (prārthanā)
Rohingya: dua
Romagnol: urazion
Romanian: rugăciune (ro) f
Romansch: uraziun, oraziun, uraztgùn, urazchun
Russian: моли́тва (ru) f (molítva), нама́з (ru) m (namáz) (Islam)
Sanskrit: प्रार्थना (sa) (prārthanā)
Scottish Gaelic: ùrnaigh f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мо̀литва f
Roman: mòlitva (sh) f
Shan: please add this translation if you can
Sherpa: please add this translation if you can
Sicilian: prijera f
Sindhi: نماز
Slovak: modlitba f
Slovene: molitev (sl) f
Sotho: thapelo (st)
Southern Altai: мӧргӱ (mörgü), кудай сӧзӱ (kuday sözü)
Spanish: oración (es) f, rezo (es) m, plegaria (es) f
Swahili: swala (sw)
Swedish: bön (sv) c
Tagalog: dasal (tl)
Tai Nüa: please add this translation if you can
Tajik: намоз (tg) (namoz), дуъо (tg) (duʾo), дуо (tg) (duo), салот (salot)
Tamil: பிரார்த்தனை (ta) (pirārttaṉai)
Tatar: намаз (tt) (namaz), дога (doğa)
Telugu: ప్రార్థన (te) (prārthana)
Thai: อธิษฐาน (th) (à-tít-tǎan), สวดมนต์ (sùuat-mon), ภาวนา (th) (paa-wá-naa)
Tibetan: བཀའ་བསྒོ (bka' bsgo)
Tigrinya: ጸሎት (ṣälot)
Tok Pisin: prea
Turkish: dua (tr), namaz (tr)
Turkmen: dileg, doga, namaz
Ugaritic: 𐎕𐎍𐎚 (ṣlt)
Ukrainian: моли́тва (uk) f (molýtva)
Urdu: نَماز (ur) f (namāz), دُعا f (du'ā), صَلات f (salāt)
Uyghur: ناماز (ug) (namaz), دۇئا (du'a)
Uzbek: duo (uz), namoz (uz), salot (uz) (dated)
Venetan: orassión f
Vietnamese: kinh cầu nguyện (經求願), kinh nguyện (經願), ý nguyện (意願)
Waray-Waray: pa-nga-di, pa-nga-dji
Welsh: gweddi (cy) f
Yiddish: תּפֿילה f (tfile)
Zazaki: duwa
Zhuang: please add this translation if you can :
Afrikaans: bid (af)
Albanian: lutje (sq)
Arabic: صَلَاة f (ṣalāh)
Armenian: աղոթք (hy) (aġotʻkʻ)
Bashkir: доға (doğa)
Basque: otoitzaldi, otoitz (eu)
Bulgarian: моли́тва (bg) f (molítva)
Catalan: rés (ca) m
Czech: modlitba (cs) f, modlení (cs) n
Danish: bøn (da) c
Dutch: gebed (nl) n, bidden (nl) n
Egyptian: (zšꜣ), (nḥ)
Esperanto: preĝo
Finnish: rukoileminen (fi)
German: Gebet (de) n
Greek: προσευχή (el) f (prosefchí)
Ancient: εὐχή f (eukhḗ)
Hungarian: imádkozás (hu), imádság (hu), fohászkodás (hu)
Irish: guí f, urnaí m
Old Irish: guide f
Japanese: 祈り (ja) (いのり, inori)
Judeo-Italian: אוּרַאצִיאוֹנַה f (ʾuraṣiʾonah /⁠uraziona⁠/)
Kazakh: бата (kk) (bata)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: نوێژ کردن (nwêj kirdin)
Latin: precatio f
Macedonian: молитва (mk) f (molitva), молење n (molenje)
Malayalam: പ്രാർത്ഥന (ml) (prāṟtthana)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: bønn (no) m or f
Nynorsk: bønn f
Old English: ġebed n
Ottoman Turkish: دعا (duʼâ), نماز (namâz)
Pashto: لمونځ (ps) m (lmunz)
Plautdietsch: Jebäd n
Polish: modlitwa (pl) f, modły (pl) f pl
Portuguese: oração (pt) f, reza (pt) f
Romanian: rugăciune (ro)
Romansch: uraziun f
Russian: моли́тва (ru) f (molítva)
Scottish Gaelic: ùrnaigh f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мо̀литва f
Roman: mòlitva (sh) f
Slovene: molitev (sl) f
Sotho: ho rapela
Spanish: rezo (es) m
Swahili: swali (sw)
Swedish: bön (sv)
Turkish: dua (tr)
Yiddish: תּפֿילה f (tfile) :
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Etymology 2

pray +‎ -er.

#### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈpɹeɪə(ɹ)/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (US) enPR: prāʹər, IPA: /ˈpɹeɪəɹ/
* Rhymes: -eɪə(ɹ)

#### Noun

prayer (plural prayers)
* One who prays.
** 1974, Shel Silverstein, “Invitation”, in Where the Sidewalk Ends, Harper Collins Publishers:If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar / A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer…
** 2012, Paul O'Connor, Islam in Hong Kong: Muslims and Everyday Life in China's World City:Out of the 37 respondents, seven are infrequent prayers who prefer to leave the precise details of their prayer life ambiguous.