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Definition of "edify" [ed•i•fy]

  • To instruct especially so as to encourage intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "edify" in a sentence
  • "It also skirts around aedificare and hence the English "edify" - to improve spiritually."
  • "Richard Rorty characterises 20th century philosophy as a distinction between those that 'edify' and those that 'systematise'."
  • "The aim of all Christian worship is to bring us nearer to God and to Christ -- not merely to touch our heart, or soothe our conscience, or improve our minds, but to "edify" us -- that is, to build us up in faith and holiness and comfort unto salvation."