preachment n.

Middle English prechen, "deliver a sermon, proclaim the Gospel," from late Old English predician, a loan word from Church Latin; reborrowed 12c. as preachen, from Old French preechier "to preach, give a sermon" (11c., Modern French précher), from Late Latin praedicare "to proclaim publicly, announce" (in Medieval Latin "to preach," source also of Spanish predicar), from Latin prae "before" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "in front of, before") + dicare "to proclaim, to say" (from PIE root *deik- "to show," also "pronounce solemnly," and see diction). Related: Preached; preaching.

Meaning "give earnest advice, especially on moral subjects" is by 1520s. To preach to the converted is recorded from 1867 (the form preach to the choir attested from 1979).

early 15c., in philosophy, "category, class; one of Aristotle's 10 categories," from Medieval Latin predicamentum, from Late Latin praedicamentum "quality, category, something predicted, that which is asserted," from Latin praedicatus, past participle of praedicare "assert, proclaim, declare publicly," from prae- "forth, before" (see pre-) + dicare "proclaim" (from PIE root *deik- "to show," also "pronounce solemnly," and see diction). Praedicamentum is a loan-translation of Greek kategoria, Aristotle's word.

The meaning "unpleasant, dangerous, or trying situation" is a particular negative use of the general sense of "a state of being, condition, situation" (1580s).