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prophecy

UK/ˈpɹɒfɪsi/US/ˈpɹɑfɪsi/
nounB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #3,246 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: prophecies

A prophecy is a statement about what a god will bring to pass. Fulfil the prophecy, an ancient prophecy, the prophecy came true.

A self-fulfilling prophecy is one that causes its own truth — a rumour of a bank failing produces the run that fails it, which is a real and studied effect. Note the spelling: prophecy is the noun and prophesy the verb, and the last syllable of the verb rhymes with sigh.

Olaus Magnus · Public domain

Definitions of prophecy

  1. 1nounprophecyA statement about what a god will bring to pass.B2+

    “The old prophecy said that a great king would be born in the village.”

prophecy is a prediction.

Where it comes from

Greek propheteia comes from prophetes, one who speaks for a god — pro, before, plus phanai, to speak. Fame and blame come from related speaking.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *per-

  2. Ancient Greek

    προφητεία — prophecy

  3. Latin

    prophētīa

  4. Old French

    prophetie

  5. Middle English

    prophecie

  6. English, today

    prophecy

Built from

  • προφήτης · Ancient Greek — speaker of a god
  • πρό · Ancient Greek — before
  • φημί · Ancient Greek — to tell

From Middle English prophecie, from Old French prophetie, from Latin prophētīa, from Ancient Greek προφητεία (“prophecy”), from προφήτης (“speaker of a god”), from πρό (“before”) + φημί (“to tell”). Displaced native wītgung. a doublet of prophesy.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Belief & Ritual, Myths & Legends, Fairy Tales & Folklore

Practise this word

prophecy in the wild

  • The message that the prophet conveys is called a prophecy.

    Prophet

  • The Olivet Discourse or Olivet prophecy is a biblical passage found in the Synoptic Gospels in Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21.

    Olivet Discourse

  • In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a prophet) by a supernatural entity.

    Prophecy

  • A self-fulfilling prophecy can have either negative or positive outcomes.

    Self-fulfilling prophecy

  • Merely applying a label to someone or something can affect the perception of the person/thing and create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

    Self-fulfilling prophecy

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.