I. ˈlekchə(r), -kshə(r) noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin lectura, from lectus (past participle of legere to gather, select, read) + -ura -ure — more at legend
1. archaic
a.
(1) : the act of reading : perusal
that face whose lecture shows what perfect beauty is — Philip Sidney
(2) : something read or perused
would limit … the Latin lectures to selected plays — Catherine Macaulay
b.
(1) : the act of reading aloud
her tongue faltered: the lecture flowed unevenly — Charlotte Brontë
(2) : something read aloud
then came a lecture out of some pious writer — Daniel Rock
2.
a. : a discourse given before an audience especially for instruction
resources for growth … in books, exhibits, conferences, lectures — Gertrude H. Hildreth
lecture hall
b. archaic : a course of lectures usually given regularly in accordance with the terms of their foundation : lectureship
3.
a. : an instructional discourse given by a member of a college or university faculty
are still using lectures to pass out information — Lynn White
the lecture method
a lecture course
b. : a college or university class ; especially : one at which a lecture is given
students … carrying only one subject or a short series of lectures — L.L.Bethel
c. obsolete : a private lesson
attends every morning to give him a lecture upon speaking — Samuel Foote
4. obsolete : an instructive example
heaven means to make one half of the species a moral lecture to the other — Edward Young
5. : a severe or formal reproof : reprimand , scolding
was giving the rest of the family a sharp-tongued lecture — Eve Langley
II. verb
( lectured ; lectured ; lecturing -kchəriŋ, -ksh(ə)riŋ ; lectures )
intransitive verb
: to deliver a lecture or a course of lectures
found time to lecture at various colleges — J.C.Archer
transitive verb
1. : to deliver a lecture to
lecturing a group of tourists — Jack Goodman
2. : to reprove severely or formally : rebuke , reprimand
she's always lecturing me — S.N.Behrman
was mildly lectured for his part in the escapade