Word of the Day: Oracle
oracle
or-a-cle / ôr-ə-kəl, ŏr-ə-kəl
noun
1. (often from ancient times) a shrine consecrated to a prophetic god
There are two sentences inscribed upon the Ancient oracle… “Know thyself” and “Nothing too much”; and upon these all other precepts depend.
Plutarch, 45 – 120
2. (often from ancient times) the instrument such as a priest or priestess, used by a god to transmit a prophecy
In ancient Greece, if a person wanted guidance, it involved a long, arduous expensive journey to consult the oracle at Delphi.
Margo Kaufman, 1953 – 2000
3. (often from ancient times) a prophecy that was often cryptic or allegorical, given by a god, through a medium
They are the guiding oracles which man has found out for himself in that great business of ours, of learning how to be, to do, to do without, and to depart.
John Morley, 1838 – 1923
4. a person considered to be an authority, who provides guidance or prophetic pronouncements
Each man is a hero and an oracle to somebody.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803 – 1882
5. a pronouncement or prediction that is considered to be infallible or authoritative
Your silence utters very loud: you have no oracle to speak, no wisdom to offer, and your fellow men have learned that you cannot help them.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803 – 1882
6. in the Bible, the holy of holies in the Temple built by Solomon in Jerusalem
Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.
Psalms 28:2 (KJV)
etymology
Through Middle English from the Old French noun oracle (temple, place of prayer, divine pronouncement) and the Latin neuter noun orac(u)lum, orac(u)li (prophecy, divine announcement, place where oracles are given). The Latin noun is a combination of the Latin verb oro, orare, oravi, oratum (speak, argue, pray, beg, beseech) and the Latin diminutive adjectival suffix -culus, -cula, -culum. The verb was formed from the Latin neuter noun os, oris (mouth).
Thank you to Allen Ward for providing this etymology.
