Revised as of
24 Sept 2022
Give praise that he no longer preys on that young girl who prays every night for help.
Pope Francis may have started his reign with praise from the public for his attitude toward pedophile priests, but pray no longer, for he is back to appointing bishops and priests who prey on the innocent. He does appear to be part of a “popular” multitude what with politicians, Hollywood, and the guy on the street who preys on those they perceive as weaker than them in this trio of heterographs.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Praise | Prays | Preys |
|---|---|---|
Pentecostals Praising, April 1941, by Russell Lee is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — Praise the Lord! |
Saying Grace Before Thanksgiving Dinner, 26 November 1942, by photographer Gordon Parks, 1912–2006, is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — My family prays before diving into Thanksgiving dinner as well. |
The Tiger Strikes is PawanJaidka’s own work under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — Deer is but one type of prey on which the tiger preys. |
| Part of Grammar: | ||
| Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive
Plural for the noun: praises Third person present verb: praises |
Third person present verb for pray
Verb, intransitive & transitive Third person present verb: prays |
Third person present verb for prey
Noun; Verb, intransitive Plural for the noun: preys Third person present verb: preys |
| Noun: The expression of approval or admiration for someone or something
The act of expressing approval or admiration
The offering of grateful homage in words or song, as an act of worship The state of being approved or admired [Archaic] A reason or ground for praise or a merit [Archaic] One who is praised Verb, intransitive: Verb, transitive:
To offer grateful homage to God or a deity, as in words or song |
Verb, intransitive: Address a solemn request or expression of thanks to a deity, other object of worship, or a person
Verb, transitive: To offer devout petition, praise, thanks, prayer, etc., to God or an object of worship To bring, put, etc., by praying To make petition or entreaty for
To enter into spiritual communion with God or an object of worship through prayer |
Noun: An animal that is hunted and killed by another for food
The action or habit of preying Verb, intransitive: Hunt and kill for food
To make raids or attacks for booty or plunder |
| Examples: | ||
| Noun: The audience was full of praise for the whole production. Let us all give praise to God. Raise your voices in a hymn of praise to God. The king lived in praise for many years. She sought the words of praise and encouragement that would help her to put heart into her venture. Jane deserved praise, even adulation, but I was unable to utter it, trained as I had been. Rebecca’s heart beat high at this sweet praise from her hero’s lips. Verb, intransitive: Praise be to God. Verb, transitive: A good teacher praises students when they do well. We praise God for your safe arrival. People gather in churches to praise the Lord. ‘We praise God for past blessings. |
Verb, intransitive: The whole family prays for Michael night and day. After several days of rain, Joe prays for sun. Jane prays that James wouldn’t notice. Verb, transitive: She must pray this soul into heaven. She prays his forgiveness. “John, Lena prays to be allowed to go,” his wife said with a pleading look. |
Noun: The kestrel is ready to pounce on unsuspecting prey. He was easy prey for the two con men. Those Spanish ships laden with gold are excellent prey. Anyone can be prey for a sexual offender. Verb, intransitive: This is a mean type of theft by ruthless people preying on the elderly. The problem preys on my mind. The fox preys on the rabbit. The Vikings preyed on coastal settlements. His worries preyed upon his mind. That damn loan shark preys upon the poor in the neighborhood. “This one is ugly for sure, a resistant-to-almost-everything bacteria that preys on the hospitalized patient” (Sepkowitz). |
| Derivatives: | ||
| Adjective: half-praised, half-praising, praiseful, praiseless, praiseworthy, self-praising, unpraised, unpraiseful, unpraising Adverb: praisefully, praiseworthyily Noun: praiser, praiseworthiness, self-praise, superpraise Verb, transitive: outpraise, outpraised, outpraising, repraise, repraised, repraising, superpraise, superpraised, superpraising |
Adjective: prayerful, unpraying Adverb: pray, prayingly Noun: prayer Verb, transitive: outpray |
Adjective: unpreying Noun: preyer |
| History of the Word: | ||
| Middle English (also in the sense of set a price on, attach value to) and is from the Old French preisier meaning to prize, praise, from the late Latin pretiare, which is from the Latin pretium meaning price. | Middle English in the sense of ask earnestly, which is from the Old French preier, from the late Latin precare, which is an alteration of the Latin precari meaning entreat. | Middle English (also denoting plunder taken in war):
|
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Praise v Prays v Preys
Apple Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com: praise, prays, preys
The Free Dictionary: praise
Merriam-Webster: praise
Sepkowitz, Kent. “Why I’m Not Worried About Dying From a Superbug, and You Shouldn’t Be, Either”, The Daily Beast. 8 Mar 2013. Web. n.d. <https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-im-not-worried-about-dying-from-a-superbug-and-you-shouldnt-be-either>.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Pope Francis in 2015 in the Casa Rosada (Argentina Presidency of the Nation) under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
