Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

PRAYED

Definition: PRAYED

PRAYED

Imperative & past participle

1. Of Pray

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Date "PRAYED" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references)

 

Specialty Definition: Prayer

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Prayer is an attempt to communicate with a deity or deities; prayer in western civilization is usually directed to God.

The existence of prayer is attested in written sources as early as 5000 years ago, and anthropologists believe that the earliest intelligent humans practised something that we would recognize today as prayer.

There are many types of prayer. Four of the most basic types of prayer are thanksgiving, confession of one's sins, praise of the divine, and petitioning for help or fulfilment of need.

Biblical views of prayer

The Bible contains many examples of prayer and various instructions and teachings about prayer. The book of Psalms is composed of prayers, song verses and poems by various authors, and some of its prayers in particular have been used by Jews and Christians for years, in corporate prayer and individual prayer, and used both verbatim and as inspiration for new prayers and songs.

In the Tanach (Hebrew Bible, Old Testament) various forms of prayer appear; the most common form is petition. This in many ways is the simplest form of prayer. Some have termed this the "social approach" to prayer. In this view, a person directly confronts God in prayer, and asks for their needs to be fulfilled; God really does listen to prayer, and may or may not choose to answer. This is the primary approach to prayer found in the Tanach (or Old Testament), the New Testament, most of the Church writings, and the Talmud.

This "petition approach" to prayer is supported for example by Matthew 21:22, where Jesus is reported as saying "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Also "the way to my father is through me"

Most modern day prayerbooks by monotheistic religions contain many prayers that were originally written as petitions. However, many modern believers may recite the same prayers with a different understanding of prayer (see below) in mind.

Prayer in Eastern Religions

The religion of Buddhism, well known for being non-theistic, utterly discards worship and places devotional emphasis on the practice of meditation alongside scriptural study. Although God and deities are recognized as present, Gautama Buddha claims it is mankind who by their own free will, possess the greatest capacity and potential to liberate themselves and are urged to do so without exterior assistance. Therefore, prayer is not as central to devotion as in its neighbouring asiatic faiths.

In religions such as Hinduism and Jainism, prayer has a greater significance and role for salvation. Hindus in India have numerous devotional movements. Stemming from the highest Creator God called Brahma, prayer is focused on His many manifestations, including the most popular deities Shiva, Vishnu, Rama and Krishna. Although Jains believe that no spirit or divine being can assist them on their path, they do hold some influence, and on special occasions, Jains will pray and meditate for right knowledge to the twenty-four Tirthankaras (saintly teachers).

Prayer in Paganism

In Graeco-Roman paganism, ceremonial prayer was highly formulaic and ritualized. The Iguvine Tables contain a supplication that can be translated, "If anything was said improperly, if anything was done improperly, let it be as if it were done correctly."

The formalism and formulaic nature of these prayers led them to be written down in language that may have only been partially understood by the writer, and our texts of these prayers may in fact be garbled. Prayers in Etruscan were used in the Roman world by augurs and other oracles long after Etruscan became a dead language. The Carmen Arvale and the Carmen Saliare are two specimens of partially preserved prayers that seem to have been unintelligible to their scribes, and whose language is full of archaisms and difficult passages.

Roman prayers and sacrifices were often envisioned as legal bargains between deity and worshipper. The Roman formula was do ut des: "I give, so that you may give in return." Cato the Elder's treatise on agriculture contains many examples of preserved traditional prayers; in one, a farmer addresses the unknown deity of a possibly sacred grove, and sacrifices a pig in order to placate the god or goddess of the place and beseech his or her permission to cut down some trees from the grove.

Philosophical re-interpretations of prayer

Post-Biblical theologians considered the philosophical problems involved in prayer (see below). Over time a number of re-interpretations of prayer evolved. These were developed in great detail by the medieval neo-Platonic and neo-Aristotelian philosophers, and have influenced how many people still pray today. At the moment, the descriptions below list some Jewish sources, but each of these views of prayers also has Christian and Muslim proponents as well; there was much intellectual cross-fertilization between Jews, Christians and Muslims during parts of the middle-ages, and so there appears to be some convergence among the philosophers of that era.

The educational approach

In this view, prayer is not a conversation with God. Rather, it is meant to inculcate certain attitudes in the one who prays, but not to influence God. Among Jews, this has been the approach of Rabbenu Bachya, Yehuda Halevy, Joseph Albo, Samson Raphael Hirsch, and Joseph Dov Soloveitchik. This view is expressed by Rabbi Nosson Scherman in the overview to the Artscroll Siddur (p.XIII); note that Scherman goes on to also affirm the Kabbalistic view (see below). Among Christian theologians...(please add examples here) Among Muslim theologians....(please add examples here).

The Kabbalistic view of prayer

People involved with kabbalah (esoteric Jewish mysticism) often reject rationalist reinterpreations of prayer outright, but they also reject the social approach, in which prayer is viewed as a dialogue with God. Instead, this approach ascribes a higher meaning to the purpose of prayer, which is no less than affecting the very fabric of reality itself, restructuring and repairing the universe in a real fashion. For Kabbalists, every prayer, every word of every prayer, and indeed, even every letter of every word of every prayer, has a precise meaning and a precise effect. In Kabbalah and related mystical belief systems, adherents claim intimate knowledge about the way in which God relates to us and the physical universe in which we live. For people with this view, prayers can literally affect the mystical forces of the universe and repair the fabric of creation.

Among Jews, this approach has been taken by the Hassidei Ashkenaz, the Zohar, the Kabbalist school of though created by the Ari, the Ramchal, most of Hassidism, the Vilna Gaon, and rabbis such as Yaakov Emden and Kalonimus Shapira. In the 1800s some European Christians were influenced by Kabbalah...(please add information here)

The rationalist approach

In this view, ultimate goal of prayer is to help train a person to focus on God through philosophy and intellectual contemplation. This approach was taken by Maimonides and the other medieval rationalists; it became popular in Jewish, Christian and Islamic intellectual circles, but never became the most popular understanding of prayer among the laity in any of these faiths. In all three of these faiths today a significant minority of people still hold to this approach.

The experiential approach

In this approach, the purpose of prayer is to enable the person praying to gain a direct experience of God. This approach is very significant in Christianity and widespread in Judaism (although less popular theologically). In Eastern Orthodoxy, this approach is known as hesychasm. It is also widespread in Sufi Islam, and in some forms of mysticism. It has some similarities with the rationalist approach, since it can also involve contemplation, although the contemplation is not generally viewed as being as rational or intellectual. It also has some similarities with the Kabbalistic view, but it lacks the Kabbalistic emphasis on the importance of individual words and letters.

Prayer practices

The actual act of praying can take on many different outward forms. Most religions or religious subgroups have certain forms that they recommend, usually more than one; occasionally, there may be specific forms that are forbidden. Prayer may be done privately and individually, or it may be done corporately in the presence of fellow believers. Some outward acts that sometimes accompany prayer are: ringing a bell; burning incense or paper; lighting a candle or candles; facing a specific direction, i.e. towards Mecca or towards the East.

A variety of body postures may be assumed, often with specific meaning associated with them: standing; sitting; kneeling; prostrate on the floor; eyes opened; eyes closed; hands folded or clasped; hands upraised; and others. Prayers may be recited from memory, read from a book of prayers, or composed spontaneously as they are prayed. They may be said, chanted, or sung. They may be with musical accompaniment or not. There may be a time of outward silence while prayers are offered mentally. Often, there are prayers to fit specific occasions, such as the blessing of a meal, the birth or death of a loved one, other significant events in the life of a believer, or days of the year that have special religious significance.

Jewish prayer

Prayers said by Jews are described in the entry on Jewish services. The prayers of the Jewish services are collected in a prayerbook called the Siddur. The entry on the siddur describes the different types of Jewish prayerbooks and how they have evolved over time.

The most imporant Jewish prayers are the Shema Yisrael ("Hear O Israel") and the Amidah ("the standing prayer").

Christian prayer

Orthodox Christianity, Catholic Christianity and the many branches of Protestant Christianity each have distinctive liturgies. Some of the more commonly recited Christian prayers include the following:

Islamic Prayer

Muslims pray a brief prayer service in Arabic, facing Mecca, five times a day. (More to be written.)

Bahá'í Prayer

Baha'is are required to recite each day one of three obligatory prayers revealed by Baha'u'llah. The believers have been enjoined to face in the direction of the Qiblih when reciting their Obligatory Prayers.

One, the longest obligatory prayer, may be recited at any time of day; another, of medium length, is recited once in the morning, once at midday, and once in the evening; and the shortest is recited at noon. This is the text of the short prayer:

I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth. There is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.

Baha'is also read from and meditate on the scriptures every morning and evening. There are also many other revealed prayers in the Baha'i scriptures, most for general use at the choice of the individual and some for specific occasions.

In the past 200 years a new form of prayer has emerged among Christians, called praying in tongue (see Glossolalia). According to adherents of this practice, the Holy Spirit comes into the body of the prayer and speaks on the Christian's behalf in a celestial language. The person praying will later deny any knowledge of what they said while praying.

Philosophical paradoxes of prayer

There are a number of philosophical paradoxes involving prayer to an omnipotent God, namely:

These questions have been discussed in Jewish, Christian and Muslim writings from the medieval period onward. The 900s to 1200s saw some of the most fertile discussion on these questions, during the period of Neo-Platonic and Neo-Aristotelian philosophy. Discussion of these problems never ceased entirely, but they did fall mostly from the public view for several centuries, until The Enlightenment reignited philosophical inquiry into theological issues. (More to be written.)

All of these questions have been discussed in many Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious texts. Many of these texts offer proposed resolutions to some or all of these paradoxes.

Prayer and Medicine

Several studies have claimed that patients who pray for their health or are being prayed for recover faster. Critics have attributed this to the placebo effect. Typically, the scientific establishment ignores studies of the occult and esoteric, but in 1999, media reports on prayer studies prompted a comprehensive review of such studies in The Lancet. The result: "Even in the best studies, the evidence of an association between religion, spirituality, and health is weak and inconsistent." A 2001 double-blind study of the Mayo clinic found no significant difference in the recovery rates between people who were (unbeknownst to them) assigned to a group that prayed for them (five people praying once a week for 26 weeks), and those who were not. In 2003, a second MANTRA study by Duke University contradicted the first MANTRA study's findings that intercessory prayer improved recovery rates in heart patients.

See also: Qi, Qigong, public prayer, prayer in school and moment of silence

External links

References

Moshe Greenberg, Biblical Prose Prayer as a Window to the Popular Religion of Ancient Israel

Abraham Joshua Heschel, Man's Quest for God Scribner, NY, 1954

Seth Kadish, Kavvana: Directing the Heart in Jewish Prayer, Jason Aronson Inc., 1997

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Prayer."

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Crosswords: PRAYED

English words defined with "PRAYED": Unpray, Unprayed. (references)
Specialty definitions using "PRAYED": Dying SayingsGynethHALFOlympian JoveShorneUncumberWent to church on Sunday. (references)
Etymologies containing "PRAYED": Pray. (references)

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Modern Usage: PRAYED

DomainUsage

Screenplays

I should have prayed to the ancestors for luck (Mulan; writing credit: Robert D. San Souci; Rita Hsiao)

I have dreamed of speaking my heart, I have prayed for it even as I have dreaded it. Was I alive before I laid eyes on thee (The Scarlet Letter; writing credit: Douglas Day Stewart)

They filled the house with laughter and sin, laughter and sin. And if I ever went down among them, my own father and brothers - they would tell me to go away and pray, and I prayed - and left them with their lustful red and white women (The Old Dark House; writing credit: J.B. Priestley; Benn W. Levy)

You prayed for a basket (The Ten Commandments; writing credit: J.H. Ingraham; A.E. Southon)

Living in my house, I prayed for normal (Everybody Loves Raymond; writing credit: Joe Bolster)

Lyrics

Yeah and I prayed you loved enough of me to stay (If You Love Me (Let Me Know); performing artist: Elvis Presley)

I've prayed for someone like you (All My Life; performing artist: K-C & JOJO)

This is the day that I prayed for (This Very Moment; performing artist: K-Ci & JoJo)

I prayed that the days would last (La Isla Bonita; performing artist: Madonna)

Prayed through the nights (Vision of Love; performing artist: Mariah Carey)

Clever

A sad Texan once prayed, "Lord, I wish you would make it rain--not so much for me, I've seen it--but for my 7-year-old. (references; author: unknown)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: PRAYED

DomainTitle

Books

  • Bigger Secrets: More Than 125 Things They Prayed You'd Never Find Out (reference)

  • Did You Get What You Prayed For? (reference)

  • For This Child I Prayed (reference)

  • Love, Laughter & Dreams: We Prayed for Twelve Children (reference)

  • My Mother Prayed for Me: Faith Journaling for African American Women (reference)

    (more book examples)

  

Music

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Photo Album: PRAYED

ThumbnailDescription & CreditThumbnailDescription & Credit

Peter prayed --. Credit: Library of Congress.

Washington, D.C. Reverend Vondell Gassaway, pastor of the St. Martin's Spiritual Church standing in a bowl of sacred water banked with roses, each of which he blesses and gives to a member who has been annointed and prayed for by a long line of disciples. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

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Digital Photo Gallery: PRAYED
 

"Sunrise Over Lake Michigan" by Samy Yang
Commentary: "I took this picture from my car while on my way to work one morning in summer. I saw the sunrise, thought it was beautiful, whipped out my camera and prayed the road was clear, then took the picture while the car was moving. It turned out better than I"

Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers.

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Familiar Quotations: PRAYED

AuthorQuotation

Charles Churchill

Who often, but without success, have prayed for apt Alliteration's artful aid.

Edmund Waller

Vexed sailors cursed the rain, for which poor shepherds prayed in vain.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

God answers sharp and sudden on some prayers and thrust the thing we have prayed for in our face, like a gauntlet with a gift in it.

Oliver Goldsmith

But in his duty prompt at every call, he watched and wept, he prayed and felt for all.

Voltaire

In my life, I have prayed but one prayer: oh Lord, make my enemies ridiculous. And God granted it.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Use in Literature: PRAYED

TitleAuthorQuote

Valley of the Shadow of Death

Carroll, Lewis

My son, it minds me of a day Left half a life behind, That I have prayed to put away For ever from my mind

Life, the Universe and Everything

Douglas Adams

He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife

Les Miserables

Hugo, Victor

Thus he prayed kneeling before this sister

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Joyce, James

He often wondered what his granduncle prayed for so seriously

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Non-Fiction Usage: PRAYED

SubjectTopicQuote

Women

Afghanistan

Most women prayed at home alone or with other family members. (references)

Lexicography

Devil's Dictionary

HALF, n. One of two equal parts into which a thing may be divided, or considered as divided. In the fourteenth century a heated discussion arose among theologists and philosophers as to whether Omniscience could part an object into three halves; and the pious Father Aldrovinus publicly prayed in the cathedral at Rouen that God would demonstrate the affirmative of the proposition in some signal and unmistakable way, and particularly (if it should please Him) upon the body of that hardy blasphemer, Manutius Procinus, who maintained the negative. Procinus, however, was spared to die of the bite of a viper.

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Speeches: PRAYED

SpeakerTermPhrase(s)

Ronald Reagan

1981-1989Europe was enslaved, and the world prayed for its rescue.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Usage Frequency: PRAYED

"PRAYED" is generally used as a lexical verb (past tense) -- approximately 83.53% of the time. "PRAYED" is used about 515 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Lexical Verb (past tense)83.53%43113,316
Lexical Verb (past participle)16.28%8436,109
Adjective (general or positive)0.19%1339,140
                    Total100.00%515N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Derived & Related Names: PRAYED

The following table summarizes names derived from the word "PRAYED".
 
NameGenderLanguageMeaning
En-hakkoreN/ABiblical

Fountain of him that called or prayed

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

 

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Expressions: PRAYED

Hyphenated Usage

Beginning with "PRAYED": prayed-for.

Containing "PRAYED": long-prayed-for.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: PRAYED

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

somebody prayed for me

4

i prayed

3

prayed

2

mama prayed when

2

lyrics prayed somebody

2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: PRAYED

Language Translations for "PRAYED"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Chinese 

  

祝祷 (Pray, Praying). (various references)

   

French

  

priai, priés, priée, prié, priâmes, prièrent, pria. (various references)

   

German

  

beteten, betete. (various references)

   

Korean 

  

기도하는. (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

ayedpray.(various references)

   

Russian 

  

молить (adjure, appeal, entreat, pray, supplicate). (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Ancestral Language Translations: PRAYED

LanguagePeriodTranslations
Latin500 BCE-Modern

Mantis religiosa, Paratenodera sinensis. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Bible Trace: PRAYED

LanguageDateSourceLuke Chapter 5, Verse 16
Greek (transliterated)250 BCSeptuagintAutoV de hn upocwrwn en taiV erhmoiV kai proseucomenoV
Latin405VulgateIpse autem secedebat in deserto et orabat
Old English990West SaxonHe þa ferde on westen and hyne gebæd;
Middle English1395WyclifAnd he wente in to desert, and preiede.
Renaissance English1526TyndaleAnd he kepte him silfe aparte in ye wildernesses and gave him silfe to prayer.
Jacobean English1611King JamesAnd he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
Victorian English1833WebsterAnd he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
Basic English1964OgdenBut he went away by himself to a waste place for prayer.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Matched Bible Translations: PRAYED

LanguageLuke Chapter 5, Verse 16
CebuanoApan siya mipahilit ngadto sa mga awaaw ug nag-ampo.
Chinese耶 穌 卻 退 到 曠 野 去 禱 告 。
CroatianA on se sklanjao na samotna mjesta da moli.
DanishMen han gik bort til Ørkenerne og bad.
DutchMaar Hij vertrok in de woestijnen, en bad aldaar.
FinnishMutta hän vetäytyi pois ja oleskeli erämaassa ja rukoili.
FrenchEt lui, il se retirait dans les déserts, et priait.
GermanEr aber entwich in die Wüste und betete.
HungarianDe õ félrevonula a pusztákba, és imádkozék.
Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hariSetelah itu Yesus pergi berdoa ke tempat yang sunyi.
Indonesian-Terjemahan LamaTetapi Yesus menarik diri-Nya ke tempat yang sunyi, lalu berdoa.
Manx GaelicAgh hie eshyn eh-hene roish gys yn aasagh, dy ghoaill padjer.
MaoriOtira haere ana ia, ko ia anake ki te koraha ki te inoi.
Norwegianmen han drog sig tilbake til øde steder og var der i bønn.
PortugueseMas ele se retirava para os desertos, e ali orava.   
RumanianIar El se ducea kn locuri pustii, wi Se ruga.
RussianоП пО ХИПДЙМ Ч РХУФЩООЩЕ НЕУФБ Й НПМЙМУС.
ShuarNúnisan Jesuska aents atsuiniamunam we ni Aparin áujmiayi.
SpanishPero él se apartaba a los lugares desiertos y oraba.
SwahiliLakini yeye alikwenda zake mahali pasipo na watu, akawa anasali huko.
SwedishMen han drog sig undan till öde trakter och bad.
UmaTapi' Yesus biasa hilou hi kawaoa' -na pai' mosampaya.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Derivations & Misspellings: PRAYED

Derivations

Words ending with "PRAYED": outprayed, resprayed, sprayed, unsprayed. (additional references)


Misspellings

"PRAYED" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: parye, payed, praide, praved, praya, praye, prayes, prayeth, Prayut, preyde, preye, pryed. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Rhyming with "PRAYED"

# of Phoneme MatchesPronunciationWord(s) rhyming with "PRAYED" (pronounced prā"d)
4p r ā" dpreyed, sprayed.
3-r ā" dafraid, betrayed, braid, degrade, frayed, grade, portrayed, raid, rayed, strayed, tirade, trade, unafraid, upbraid, upgrade.

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

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Anagrams: PRAYED

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Direct Anagrams: drapey.

Words within the letters "a-d-e-p-r-y"

-1 letter: apery, deary, deray, drape, padre, pardy, pared, payed, payer, perdy, raped, rayed, ready, repay.

-2 letters: aery, aped, aper, dare, dear, dray, dyer, eyra, pard, pare, pear, pray, prey, pyre, rape, read, reap, yard, yare, year.

-3 letters: ape, are, aye, dap, day, dey, dry, dye, ear, era, pad, par, pay, pea, ped, per, pry.

 Words containing the letters "a-d-e-p-r-y"
 

+1 letter: drapery, pedlary, sprayed.

 

+2 letters: copyread, dapperly, jeopardy, parlayed, parleyed, paygrade, pedantry, pyoderma, repandly, replayed, underpay.

 

+3 letters: clepsydra, copyreads, depravity, hyperacid, hyperarid, outprayed, pachyderm, paralysed, paralyzed, parsleyed, paygrades, pederasty, polyhedra, portrayed, predacity, predatory, pyodermas, pyramided, redisplay, resprayed, underpays, underplay, unsprayed.

 

+4 letters: cardplayer, clepsydrae, clepsydras, copyreader, cypripedia, demography, depilatory, deplorably, depositary, depravedly, dispensary, hydrophane, hydroplane, hydrospace, hypermedia, hypodermal, ideography, karyotyped, overplayed, pachyderms, perdurably, polyhedral, prebendary, preholiday, preparedly, presidiary, pyranoside, redisplays, repeatedly, sandpapery, underplays.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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INDEX

1. Definition
2. Crosswords
3. Usage: Modern
4. Usage: Commercial
5. Images: Photo Album
6. Images: Digital Art
7. Quotations: Familiar
8. Quotations: Fiction
9. Quotations: Non-fiction
10. Quotations: Speeches
11. Usage Frequency
12. Names: Derived from
13. Expressions
14. Expressions: Internet
15. Translations: Modern
16. Translations: Ancient
17. Bible Trace
18. Derivations
19. Rhymes
20. Anagrams
21. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.