practise
verb/ˈpɹæktɪs/
Etymology From Middle English practizen, a variant of practisen, from Middle French pratiser, practiser, from Medieval Latin practizo, from Late Latin practico (“to do, perform, execute, propose, practise, exercise, be conversant with, contrive, conspire, etc.”), from prāctica (“practical affairs", "business”), from Ancient Greek πρᾱκτική (prāktikḗ), from πρᾱκτικός (prāktikós, “practical”), from πρᾱ́σσειν (prā́ssein, “to do”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per(h₂)- (“to go over, cross”).
8 senses
- 1To repeat (an activity) as a way of improving one's…
- 2To repeat an activity in this way.
- 3To perform or observe in an habitual fashion.
- 4To pursue (a career, especially law, fine art or medicine).
- 5To conspire.
- 6To put into practice; to carry out; to act upon; to…
- 7To make use of; to employ.
- 8To teach or accustom by practice; to train.
To repeat (an activity) as a way of improving one's skill in that activity.
- You should practise playing piano every day.
To repeat an activity in this way.
- If you want to speak French well, you need to practise.
To perform or observe in an habitual fashion.
- They gather to practise religion every Saturday.
- Hydromancy was extensively practised by the Egyptian priests and sorcerers[.]1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 39:
1 more example
- He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record. With this biological framework in place, Corning endeavors to show that the capitalist system as currently practiced in the United States and elsewhere is manifestly unfair.2012 March-April, John T. Jost, “Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)?”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 13 Feb 2012, page 162:
To pursue (a career, especially law, fine art or medicine).
- She practised law for forty years before retiring.
Obsolete To conspire.
To put into practice; to carry out; to act upon; to commit; to execute; to do.
- Aught but Talbot's shadow whereon to practise your severity.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
- As this advice ye practise or neglect.1715–1720, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, “Book VII”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:
To make use of; to employ.
- In malice to this good knight's wife, I practised Ubaldo and Ricardo to corrupt her.1629, Philip Massinger, Nathan Field, The Picture:
To teach or accustom by practice; to train.
- In church they are taught to love God; after church they are practised to love their neighbour.1828, Walter Savage Landor, “Lord Brooke and Sir Philip Sidney”, in Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen, volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:
- Derived terms
- practisable, practiseable, practisant, practised, practise what one preaches, practising, unpractised
- Related terms
- practic, practicable, practical, practice, practitioner