oracle

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“
And the oracle is an omen; and in some sense an omen of doom.

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Definitions (22)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (7)

  1. noun A shrine consecrated to the worship and consultation of a prophetic deity, as that of Apollo at Delphi.
  2. noun A person, such as a priestess, through whom a deity is held to respond when consulted.
  3. noun The response given through such a medium, often in the form of an enigmatic statement or allegory.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (10)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

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Examples (50)

  • And myth says that he had an audience with the oracle, and it foretold his destiny of greatness. —  Euvin Naidoo on investing in Africa
  • We would not have been able to fly to the Maenads anyway; it turned out that the oracle was as close to the mountain as we could go by air, because the Simurgh, the huge ancient bird who guarded the mountain and especially the great Tree of Seeds, did not permit other flyers there. —  Question Quest
  • I told myself over and over that the oracle was a lying fraud. —  Julian, May - Boreal Moon 01 - Conqueror's Moon
  • Authors long since forgotten waited on him as their oracle, and he gave responses in the chair of criticism. —  Life Of Johnson, Vol. 1
  • Some of the citizens fancied that the oracle was advising them to retreat behind the ancient wooden stockade on the Acropolis, but Themistocles insisted that by "wooden walls" the oracle meant their ships He finally persuaded the Athenians to believe him. —  The Story of the Greeks
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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

prophecy ·  prophet ·  scripture ·  bard ·  seer ·  deity ·  omen ·  miracle ·  sage ·  portent ·  rite ·  shrine

Used in the same contextWord Family

oracle:   oracles
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old French, from Latin ōrāculum, from ōrāre, to speak.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English oracle, from Old French (and F.) oracle = Spanish oráculo = Portuguese oraculo = Italian oracolo, from Latin oraculum, syncopated oraclum, a divine announcement, a prophecy, a place where such were given, from orare, pray: see oration.
  2. from oracle, n.
 

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/ˈɑrəkl/
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