"preaching," 1879, from Greek kērygma "proclamation, that which is cried by a herald, public notice," used in the Greek New Testament for "preaching," from kēryssein "to proclaim, to cry (as a herald)," from or related to kēryx "herald, messenger," a word of uncertain origin, perhaps from PIE root *kar- (2) "to praise loudly," but Beekes says probably pre-Greek. Related: Kerygmatic.