pray

1. 扑在光线下才是祈祷。朝拜、拜倒、匍匐在光线在下。
2. p- (趴在地上) + ray (沐浴在上帝的阳光之下) => 祈祷。

pray 祈祷，祈求，恳求

来自古法语preier,祈祷，祈求，来自拉丁语precari,乞求，要求，恳求，来自PIE*prek,要求，恳求，词源同precarious,deprecate,postulate.

pray

pray: [13] Latin precārī meant ‘ask for, entreat, pray’ (it has given English deprecate [17] and imprecation [16]). In Vulgar Latin it became *precāre, which passed into English via Old French preier. The noun prayer [13] goes back ultimately to the Latin adjective precārius ‘obtained by asking or praying’ (source also of English precarious), which was derived from precārī.
=> deprecate, imprecation, precarious

pray (v.)

early 13c., "ask earnestly, beg," also (c. 1300) "pray to a god or saint," from Old French preier "to pray" (c.900, Modern French prier), from Vulgar Latin *precare (also source of Italian pregare), from Latin precari "ask earnestly, beg, entreat," from *prex (plural preces, genitive precis) "prayer, request, entreaty," from PIE root *prek- "to ask, request, entreat" (cognates: Sanskrit prasna-, Avestan frashna- "question;" Old Church Slavonic prositi, Lithuanian prasyti "to ask, beg;" Old High German frahen, German fragen, Old English fricgan "to ask" a question).

Parenthetical expression I pray you, "please, if you will," attested from 1510s, contracted to pray 16c. Related: Prayed; praying. Praying mantis attested from 1809. The "Gardener's Monthly" of July 1861 lists other names for it as camel cricket, soothsayer, and rear horse.

1. We have a beautiful city and we pray it stays that way.

我们的城市很美丽，但愿它能保持下去。

2. And what, pray, do you buy and sell, Major?

梅杰，请问，你都买卖些什么？

3. One can only pray that the team's manager learns something from it.

大家也只能希冀球队教练从中汲取教训。

4. She went to pray for the soul of her late husband.

她去为亡夫的灵魂祈祷。

5. His statement ended with the words: "Pray for me."

他的声明以“为我祈祷”结束。

【beg, implore, request, pray, require, claim, entreat, ask, demand】
这组词都有“要求，请求”的意思，其区别是：
beg: 指恳切地或再三地请求或要求，常含低三下四意味，也多用于应酬场合。
implore: 书面用词，着重指迫切、焦急或痛苦地恳求或哀求，常含较强的感情色彩。
request: 正式用词，指非常正式，有礼貌的请求或恳求，多含担心因种种原因对方不能答应的意味。
pray: 语气庄重，指热情、诚恳和敬祈的要求，现不很常用。
require: 强调根据事业、需要或纪律、法律等而提出的要求。
claim: 指有权或宣称有权得到而公开提出的要求。
entreat: 泛指一般“恳求或哀求”，含企图说服对方或用热烈的请求软化反对意见的意味。
ask: 最普通用词，指向对方提出要求或请求，长、晚辈，上下级之间都可使用。
demand: 一般指理直气壮地提出强烈要求，或坚持不让对方拒绝的要求。

【beg, plead, petition, appeal, pray, entreat】
这组词都有“请求，恳求”的意思，其区别是：
beg: 比plead通俗，不用于法律范畴，指低声下气地请求，有时含贬义，指某人喋喋不休地要求得到帮助。
plead: 指谦卑而又不失尊严地请求，侧重迫切感。
petition: 指正式而热切地请愿或祈求。
appeal: 常指以道义原则为基础或以法律为依据的请求。
pray: 指祈求，多用于宗教用语中。
entreat: 意义与beg的大致相同，但较文雅。