1. a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God or an object of worship: "I'll say a prayer for him"Similarinvocationintercessiondevotionarchaic:orison
▪ a religious service, especially a regular one, at which people gather in order to pray together: "500 people were detained as they attended Friday prayers"
▪ an earnest hope or wish:"it is our prayer that the current progress on human rights will be sustained"
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French preiere, based on Latin precarius ‘obtained by entreaty’, from prex, prec- ‘prayer’.