oracle
See also: Oracle
English
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English oracle, from Old French oracle m, from Latin ōrāculum n.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editoracle (plural oracles)
- A shrine dedicated to some prophetic deity.
- 1629, John Milton, “On the Morning of Christs Nativity”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC:
- The oracles are dumb; / No voice or hideous hum / Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving.
- A person such as a priest through whom the deity is supposed to respond with prophecy or advice.
- Synonym: prophet
- A prophetic response, often enigmatic or allegorical, so given.
- 2001, David L. Lieber, Jules Harlow, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, page 94:
- The several oracles included in this haftarah presumably were uttered at different times to the people in exile, presenting diverse themes and using distinct styles.
- (figuratively, archaic) Something said that must come true or cannot be countermanded; an inexorable command or declaration.
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:
- Fight all couragiouſly and be you kings,
I ſpeake it, and my words are oracles.
- 1612, Michael Drayton, “The Second Song”, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britaine, […], London: […] H[umphrey] L[ownes] for Mathew Lownes; I[ohn] Browne; I[ohn] Helme; I[ohn] Busbie, published 1613, →OCLC, page 29:
- Shee ſtiles her ſelfe their Chiefe, and ſweares ſhee will command; / And, what-ſo-ere ſhee ſaith, for Oracles muſt ſtand.
- A person considered to be a source of wisdom.
- Synonym: expert
- a literary oracle
- 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “(please specify the page number, or |part=Prologue, I to VII, or conclusion)”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:
- oracles of mode
- 1856 December, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Samuel Johnson”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC:
- The country rectors […] thought him an oracle on points of learning.
- A wise sentence or decision of great authority.
- A fortune-teller.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter V, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 46:
- "Madame de l'Hôpital has been quite la fée bienfaisante" said Lauzun, who, like others, had been consulting the oracle. "I am bewildered by my future good fortune. I quite anticipate being married, if it is to bring me all that she predicts."
- One who communicates a divine command; an angel; a prophet.
- 1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 1:
- God hath now sent his living oracle / Into the world to teach his final will.
- (Jewish antiquity) The sanctuary, or most holy place in the temple; also, the temple itself.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Kings 6:19:
- And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
- Siloa's brook, that flow'd / Fast by the oracle of God.
- (computing theory) A theoretical entity capable of answering some collection of questions.
- 1994, Roger Penrose, “Quantum theory and the brain”, in Shadows of the Mind, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 380:
- Thus, an oracle machine (which enacts an oracle algorithm) would be like an ordinary Turing machine, except that adjoined to its ordinary computational operations would be another operation: ‘Call in the oracle and ask it whether Cq(n) stops; […]
- (cryptocurrencies) A third-party service that provides smart contracts with information from the outside world.
- 2020, Daniel T. Stabile, Kimberly A. Prior, Andrew M. Hinkes, “Smart Contracts”, in Digital Assets and Blockchain Technology, Edward Elgar Publishing, →ISBN, page 223:
- For example, an oracle may send temperature data reported by the National Weather Service or report the daily LIBOR rate to a smart contract.
Derived terms
editTranslations
editshrine to prophetic deity
|
priest through whom deity provides prophecy or advice
|
prophetic response
|
person who is a source of wisdom
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Verb
editoracle (third-person singular simple present oracles, present participle oracling, simple past and past participle oracled)
- (obsolete) To utter oracles or prophecies.[1]
- 1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:
- But this thy glory shall be soon retrench'd;
No more shalt thou by oracling abuse
The Gentiles; henceforth Oracles are ceast
- 2006 October 18, David M. Halbfinger, “Hollywood Film Chain’s Latest Link”, in New York Times[1]:
- Primarily seen as a publicity vehicle for late-year releases, the awards show and its promoters have lately made pretensions to Oscar oracling: Jamie Foxx won the “breakthrough actor of the year” prize for “Ray” in 2004, after all, and Paul Haggis and his ensemble cast were honored for “Crash” four months before it won best picture.
Translations
editutter oracles or prophecies
References
edit- ^ “oracle”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams
editCatalan
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Latin ōrāculum n.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editoracle m (plural oracles)
Further reading
edit- “oracle” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
French
editEtymology
editFrom Middle French oracle m, from Old French oracle m, from Latin ōrāculum n (12th c.).
Pronunciation
editNoun
editoracle m (plural oracles)
Further reading
edit- “oracle”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
editMiddle English
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Middle French oracle m, from Old French oracle m, from Latin ōrāculum n.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editoracle (plural oracles)
- (Late Middle English) A shrine where hidden religious knowledge is imparted.
- (Late Middle English, rare) A heavenly or godly message.
Descendants
editReferences
edit- “ōrācle, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-2.
Old French
editEtymology
edit(Cir. 12th c.) Derived from Latin oraculum n.
Noun
editoracle oblique singular, m (oblique plural oracles, nominative singular oracles, nominative plural oracle)
Descendants
editReferences
editCategories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with archaic senses
- English terms with collocations
- en:Theory of computing
- en:Cryptocurrency
- English verbs
- English terms with obsolete senses
- en:Divination
- en:People
- en:Places of worship
- en:Stock characters
- Catalan terms borrowed from Latin
- Catalan terms derived from Latin
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan nouns
- Catalan countable nouns
- Catalan masculine nouns
- French terms inherited from Middle French
- French terms derived from Middle French
- Middle French terms inherited from Old French
- Middle French terms derived from Old French
- French terms inherited from Latin
- French terms derived from Latin
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- fr:Divination
- Middle English terms borrowed from Middle French
- Middle English terms derived from Middle French
- Middle English terms derived from Old French
- Middle English terms derived from Latin
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Late Middle English
- Middle English terms with rare senses
- Old French terms derived from Latin
- Old French lemmas
- Old French nouns
- Old French masculine nouns
- enm:Places of worship
- enm:Religion