prière (French)
Where does "prière" come from?
The French word 'prière' traces its roots back to the Proto-Indo-European *preḱ-, meaning 'to ask.' This evolved into the Latin 'prex' for prayer or request, eventually becoming 'precāria' in Early Medieval Latin and later the Old French 'priere,' finally settling into its modern form.
Full etymology tree
- prière (French), 'prayer'
- inherited priere (Old French)
- inherited precāria (Latin), 'petition'
- derived precārius (Latin), 'related to entreaty or petition'
- derived prec- (Latin)
- derived prex (Latin), 'prayer; request'
- inherited *preks (Proto-Italic)
- inherited *preḱ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to ask'
- inherited *preks (Proto-Italic)
- derived prex (Latin), 'prayer; request'
- derived prec- (Latin)
- derived precārius (Latin), 'related to entreaty or petition'
- inherited precāria (Latin), 'petition'
- inherited priere (Old French)
Ancestors
- preiere (Old French)
- precaria (Latin)
- prex (Latin)
Descendants and derived words
- appel à la prière (French)
- prière de (French)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris