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homily

Homily Hom"i*ly, n.; pl. Homilies. [LL. homilia, Gr. ? communion, assembly, converse, sermon, fr. ? an assembly, fr. ? same; cf. ? together, and ? crowd, cf. ? to press: cf. F. hom[ e]lie. See Same.] 1. A discourse or sermon read or pronounced to an audience; a serious discourse. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

2. A serious or tedious exhortation in private on some moral point, or on the conduct of life. [1913 Webster]

As I have heard my father Deal out in his long homilies. --Byron. [1913 Webster]

{Book of Homilies}. A collection of authorized, printed sermons, to be read by ministers in churches, esp. one issued in the time of Edward VI., and a second, issued in the reign of Elizabeth; -- both books being certified to contain a ``godly and wholesome doctrine. [1913 Webster]