Homily
Pronunciation : Hom"i*ly
Part of Speech : n.;
Etymology : [LL. homilia, Gr. hom?lie. See Same.]
Definition : 1. A discourse or sermon read or pronounced to an audience; a serious discourse. Shak.
2. A serious or tedious exhortation in private on some moral point, or on the conduct of life. As I have heard my father Deal out in his long homilies. Byron. Book of Homilies. A collection of authorized, printed sermons, to be read by ministers in churches, esp. one issued in the time of Edward VI., and a second, issued in the reign of Elizabeth; -- both books being certified to contain a "godly and wholesome doctrine."
pl. Homilies.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913