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Oracles - 2 dictionary results

or⋅a⋅cle

[awr-uh-kuh

l, or-]

–noun

1.	(esp. in ancient Greece) an utterance, often ambiguous or obscure, given by a priest or priestess at a shrine as the response of a god to an inquiry.

2.	the agency or medium giving such responses.

3.	a shrine or place at which such responses were given: the oracle of Apollo at Delphi.

4.	a person who delivers authoritative, wise, or highly regarded and influential pronouncements.

5.	a divine communication or revelation.

6.	any person or thing serving as an agency of divine communication.

7.	any utterance made or received as authoritative, extremely wise, or infallible.

8.	oracles, the Scriptures.

9.	the holy of holies of the Temple built by Solomon in Jerusalem. I Kings 6:16, 19–23.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < OF < L ōrāculum, equiv. to ōrā(re) to plead (see oration ) + -culum -cle ²

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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or·a·cle (ôr'ə-kəl, ŏr'-)

1. A shrine consecrated to the worship and consultation of a prophetic deity, as that of Apollo at Delphi.
2. A person, such as a priestess, through whom a deity is held to respond when consulted.
3. The response given through such a medium, often in the form of an enigmatic statement or allegory.
4. A person considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinions.
5. An authoritative or wise statement or prediction.
1. A person considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinions.
2. An authoritative or wise statement or prediction.
A command or revelation from God.
In the Bible, the sanctuary of the Temple.

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

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