Word of the Day

Sunday, July 15, 2001

vatic

\VAT-ik\ , adjective;

Of or characteristic of a prophet or prophecy; prophetic; oracular.

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Quotes:

[He] needs to be reminded that . . . his poetry is just that -- poetry, not the vatic revelation of spiritual truth.

-- Ruth Franklin, "Black Milk of Language", New Republic, December 25, 2000

One encounters plenty of vatic pronouncements in the pages devoted to, among others, Muriel Rukeyser, Kenneth Rexroth, William Everson, H. D. and Olson.

-- William H. Pritchard, "Eliot, Frost, Ma Rainey and the Rest", New York Times, April 2, 2000

Origin:

Vatic comes from Latin vates, "a prophet, a soothsayer, a seer."