edify

English

Alternative forms

• ædify (archaic)

Etymology

From Old French edifier (“to build, to edify”), from Latin aedificare (“build”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛdɪfaɪ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

edify (third-person singular simple present edifies, present participle edifying, simple past and past participle edified)

1. (now rare) To build, construct.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     That Castle was most goodly edifyde, / And plaste for pleasure nigh that forrest syde […]

2. (transitive) To instruct or improve morally or intellectually.
   • January 23, 1783, Edward Gibbon, letter to Dr. Priestley

     It does not appear probable that our dispute [about miracles] would either edify or enlighten the public.

   • 1813, The Connecticut Evangelical Magazine, Vol. VI, page 455:

     That they ought to edify one another by maintaining and promoting the knowledge of truth.

   • 1641, Francis Bacon, A Wise and Moderate Discourse, Concerning Church-Affaires:

     frustrate the best endeavours in the edifying of the church

Derived terms

• disedify
• reedify

 

Related terms

• edification
• edificator
• edifice
• edifier
• edifying

Translations

To instruct or improve morally or intellectually

• Bulgarian: поучавам (bg) (poučavam), назидавам (bg) (nazidavam)
• Czech: poučit (cs) pf, povznášet impf, povznést pf
• French: édifier (fr)
• German: bestärken (de), erbauen (de), edifizieren
• Gothic: 𐍄𐌹𐌼𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (timrjan)
• Polish: dodawać otuchy impf, dodać otuchy pf, podnosić na duchu (pl) impf, podnieść na duchu (pl) pf
• Russian: назидать (ru) (nazidatʹ), наставля́ть (ru) (nastavljátʹ)
• Swedish: uppbygga

Anagrams

• deify