lecture

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
lecture/ˈlektʃə(r)/

▶noun

• 1 an educational talk to an audience, especially one of students in a university.

• 2 a long serious speech, especially one given as a scolding or reprimand.

▶verb

• 1 deliver an educational lecture or lectures.

• 2 talk seriously or reprovingly to.

– origin ME (in the sense ‘reading, a text to read’): from OFr., or from med. L. lectura, from L. lect-, legere ‘read, choose’.