'Book of Homilies' definitions:

Definition of 'Book of Homilies'

From: GCIDE

Homily \Hom"i*ly\, n.; pl. Homilies. [LL. homilia, Gr. ? communion, assembly, converse, sermon, fr. ? an assembly, fr. ? same; cf. ? together, and ? crowd, cf. ? to press: cf. F. hom['e]lie. See Same.]
1. A discourse or sermon read or pronounced to an audience; a serious discourse. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
2. A serious or tedious exhortation in private on some moral point, or on the conduct of life. [1913 Webster]
As I have heard my father Deal out in his long homilies. --Byron. [1913 Webster]
Book of Homilies. A collection of authorized, printed sermons, to be read by ministers in churches, esp. one issued in the time of Edward VI., and a second, issued in the reign of Elizabeth; -- both books being certified to contain a "godly and wholesome doctrine." [1913 Webster]