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oracle definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an authoritative person who divines the future [syn: prophet, prophesier, oracle, seer, vaticinator]
2: a prophecy (usually obscure or allegorical) revealed by a priest or priestess; believed to be infallible
3: a shrine where an oracular god is consulted

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin oraculum, from orare to speak — more at oration Date: 15th century 1. a. a person (as a priestess of ancient Greece) through whom a deity is believed to speak b. a shrine in which a deity reveals hidden knowledge or the divine purpose through such a person c. an answer or decision given by an oracle 2. a. a person giving wise or authoritative decisions or opinions b. an authoritative or wise expression or answer

Britannica Concise

Source of a divine communication delivered in response to a petitioner's request. Ancient Greece and Rome had many oracles. The most famous was that of Apollo at Delphi, where the medium was a woman over 50 called the Pythia. After bathing in the Castalian spring, she apparently would descend into a basement cell, mount a sacred tripod, and chew the leaves of the laurel, sacred to Apollo. Her utterances, which were often highly ambiguous, were interpreted by priests. Other oracles, incl. those at Claros (Apollo), Amphicleia (Dionysus), Olympia (Zeus), and Epidaurus (Asclepius), were consulted through various other methods; for example, the oldest of the oracles, that of Zeus at Dodona, spoke through the whispering of the leaves of a sacred oak. At some shrines, the inquirer would sleep in the holy precinct and receive an answer in a dream.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a a place at which advice or prophecy was sought from the gods in classical antiquity. b the usu. ambiguous or obscure response given at an oracle. c a prophet or prophetess at an oracle. 2 a a person or thing regarded as an infallible guide to future action etc. b a saying etc. regarded as infallible guidance. 3 divine inspiration or revelation. 4 (Oracle) Brit. propr. a teletext service provided by Independent Television. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L oraculum f. orare speak

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Oracle Or"a*cle, n. [F., fr. L. oraculum, fr. orare to speak, utter, pray, fr. os, oris, mouth. See Oral.] 1. The answer of a god, or some person reputed to be a god, to an inquiry respecting some affair or future event, as the success of an enterprise or battle. Whatso'er she saith, for oracles must stand. --Drayton. 2. Hence: The deity who was supposed to give the answer; also, the place where it was given. The oracles are dumb; No voice or hideous hum Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving. --Milton. 3. The communications, revelations, or messages delivered by God to the prophets; also, the entire sacred Scriptures -- usually in the plural. The first principles of the oracles of God. --Heb. v. 12. 4. (Jewish Antiq.) The sanctuary, or Most Holy place in the temple; also, the temple itself. --1 Kings vi. 19. Siloa's brook, that flow'd Fast by the oracle of God. --Milton. 5. One who communicates a divine command; an angel; a prophet. God hath now sent his living oracle Into the world to teach his final will. --Milton. 6. Any person reputed uncommonly wise; one whose decisions are regarded as of great authority; as, a literary oracle. ``Oracles of mode.'' --Tennyson. The country rectors . . . thought him an oracle on points of learning. --Macaulay. 7. A wise sentence or decision of great authority.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Oracle Or"a*cle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Oracled; p. pr. & vb. n. Oracling.] To utter oracles. [Obs.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(oracles) In ancient Greece, an oracle was a priest or priestess who made statements about future events or about the truth. N-COUNT

Easton's Bible Dictionary

In the Old Testament used in every case, except 2 Sam. 16:23, to denote the most holy place in the temple (1 Kings 6:5, 19-23; 8:6). In 2 Sam. 16:23 it means the Word of God. A man inquired "at the oracle of God" by means of the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate on the high priest's ephod. In the New Testament it is used only in the plural, and always denotes the Word of God (Rom. 3:2; Heb. 5:12, etc.). The Scriptures are called "living oracles" (comp. Heb. 4:12) because of their quickening power (Acts 7:38).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

or'-a-k'-l:

(1) A divine utterance delivered to man, usually in answer to a request for guidance. So in 2Sa 16:23 for dabhar ("word," as in the Revised Version margin). The use in this passage seems to indicate that at an early period oracular utterances were sought from Yahweh by the Israelites, but the practice certainly fell into disuse at the rise of prophecy, and there are no illustrations of the means employed (1Sa 14:18,19,36-42, etc., belong rather to DIVINATION (which see)). In. the Revised Version margin of such passages as Isa 13:1, "oracle" is used in the titles of certain special prophecies as a substitute for BURDEN (which see) (massa'), with considerable advantage (especially in La 2:14).

(2) In heathen temples "oracle" was used for the chamber in which the utterances were delivered (naturally a most sacred part of the structure). This usage, coupled with a mistake in Hebrew philology (connecting debhir, "hinder part," with dibber, "speak"), caused English Versions of the Bible to give the title "oracle" to the Most Holy Place of the Temple, in 1Ki 6:5, etc., following the example of Aquila, Symmachus and the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) But the title is very unfortunate, as the Most Holy Place had nothing to do with the delivery of oracles, and the Revised Version (British and American) should have corrected (compare Ps 28:2 margin).

(3) In the New Testament English Versions of the Bible employs "oracle" as the translation of logion, "saying," in four places. In all, divine utterances are meant, specialized in Ac 7:38 as the Mosaic Law ("living oracles" equals "commandments enforced by the living God"), in Ro 3:2 as the Old Testament in general, and in Heb 5:12 as the revelations of Christianity (Heb 6:2,3). In 1Pe 4:11 the meaning is debated, but probably the command is addressed to those favored by a supernatural "gift of speech." Such men must keep their own personality in the background, adding nothing of their own to the inspired message as it comes to them.

Burton Scott Easton

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Divine communication. 2. (Fewish History.) Sanctuary, Holy of Holies. 3. (Greek History.) Deity or god (from whom divine communications come). 4. Sage, prophet, Solomon, Nestor, wise man, master-mind, shining light.

Moby Thesaurus

Cassandra, Delphian oracle, Delphic oracle, Delphic tripod, Dodona, Pythian oracle, Python, adage, advice, ana, analects, answer, aphorism, apocalypse, apothegm, augur, augury, authority, axiom, byword, catchword, collected sayings, current saying, dictate, dictum, distich, divination, diviner, doctor, elder, elder statesman, epigram, expression, fortune-teller, gnome, golden saying, great soul, guru, illuminate, intellect, intellectual, lover of wisdom, mahatma, man of intellect, man of wisdom, mandarin, master, mastermind, maxim, mentor, message, moral, mot, motto, philosopher, phrase, pithy saying, precept, prediction, prescript, prognostication, prognosticator, prophecy, prophet, proverb, proverbial saying, proverbs, rabbi, rishi, sage, sapient, savant, saw, saying, scholar, seer, sentence, sententious expression, sibyl, sloka, soothsayer, starets, stock saying, sutra, teaching, text, thinker, verse, vision, wisdom, wisdom literature, wise man, wise old man, wise saying, witticism, wizard, word, words of wisdom