homily

noun

hom·​i·​ly ˈhä-mə-lē 

plural homilies

1

: a usually short sermon

a priest delivering his homily

2

: a lecture or discourse on or of a moral theme

3

: an inspirational catchphrase

also : platitude

Did you know?

Homily Has Greek Roots

Gather round for a succinct history of homily. The story starts with the ancient Greek word homilos, meaning "crowd" or "assembly," and travels through related Greek words homilein, "to address," and homilia, "conversation, discourse." Homilia eventually takes on the "usually short sermon" meaning in our modern homily, and then is incorporated into the Latin used by writers of the early first millennium. It reaches English speakers of the 14th century by way of Anglo-French, but when it arrives it's spelled omelie. By the mid-16th century the "h" is back, and the "y" of the modern spelling has found its place. A side note to our tale is this: be careful not to confuse homily with hominy, a 17th century word of Virginia Algonquian origin denoting a key ingredient in the Mexican soup posole (which, if we may be so corny, is a dish worth preaching about).

Synonyms of homily

• sermon

Examples of homily in a Sentence

The priest gave a brief homily on forgiveness.

We had to listen to another one of his homilies about the value of public service.

a politician with a fondness for homily

Recent Examples on the Web

Leo used his homily at Mass in the Monaco stadium to do just that, urging the faithful to reject the type of idolatry that has enslaved people in cycles of war and injustice. —Arkansas Online, 29 Mar. 2026

Beneath the metallic veneer, though, her songs had the tenderness and precision of a homily. —Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2026

The rising popularity of AI has even caught the attention of Pope Leo XIV, who this year has advised his priests not to use AI tools to write their homilies and called for regulation to protect people from getting too emotionally attached to chatbots. —John Kell, Fortune, 11 Mar. 2026

During one of the recent holiday homily sermons at our small rural All-Saints Catholic Church in San Pierre, Rev. Terry Bennis shared his holiday recollections of growing up in LaPorte. —Philip Potempa, Chicago Tribune, 2 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English omelie, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin homilia, from Late Greek, from Greek, conversation, discourse, from homilein to consort with, address, from homilos crowd, assembly; akin to Greek homos same — more at same

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for homily

• anomaly

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Kids Definition

homily

noun

hom·​i·​ly ˈhäm-ə-lē 

plural homilies

: sermon sense 1