- orator
- late 14c., "one who pleads or argues for a cause," from Anglo-Fr. oratour, from O.Fr. orateur (14c.), from L. oratorem (nom. orator) "speaker," from orare "speak before a court or assembly, plead," from PIE base *or- "to pronounce a ritual formula" (cf. Skt. aryanti "they praise," Homeric Gk. are, Attic ara "prayer," Hittite ariya- "to ask the oracle," aruwai- "to revere, worship"). Meaning "public speaker" is attested from early 15c.
- oratory (1)
- "formal public speaking, the art of eloquence," 1586, from L. (ars) oratoria "oratorical (art)," fem. of oratorius "of speaking or pleading," from orare (see orator).
- oratory (2)
- "small chapel," c.1300, from L.L. oratorium "place of prayer" (especially the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Rome, where musical services were presented), properly an adj., as in oratorium templum, from neut. of L. oratorius "of or for praying," from orare (see orator).
- rhetoric
- c.1300, from O.Fr. rethorique, from L. rhetorice, from Gk. rhetorike techne "art of an orator," from rhetor (gen. rhetoros) "orator," related to rhema "word," lit. "that which is spoken," from PIE *wre-tor-, from base *were- "to speak" (cf. O.E. word, L. verbum, Gk. eirein "to say;" see verb).
- Cicero
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman and orator, 106-43 B.C.E.
- cicerone
- "a local guide in Italy," 1726, from It., from L. Ciceronem, from the name of the great Roman orator (see Cicero). Perhaps in ref. to the loquacity of the guides.
- soap box
- 1660, box for holding soap, later esp. a wooden crate in which soap may be packed. Typical of a makeshift stand for a public orator since at least 1907. Also used by children to make racing carts, cf. soap-box derby, annual race in Dayton, Ohio, which dates back to 1933.
- orate
- c.1600, "to pray, to plead," from L. oratus, pp. of orare "pray, plead, speak before a court or assembly" (see orator). The meaning "make a formal speech" emerged c.1860 in Amer.Eng. as a back-formation of oration.
- oration
- late 14c., "prayer," from L.L. orationem (nom. oratio) "speaking, discourse, language, prayer," from L. oratus, pp. of orare (see orator). Meaning "formal speech, discourse" first recorded c.1500.
- oracle
- late 14c., "a message from a god, expressed by divine inspiration," from O.Fr. oracle (12c.), from L. oraculum "divine announcement, oracle," from orare "pray, plead" (see orator), with material instrumental suffix -culo-. In antiquity, "the agency or medium of a god," also "the place where such divine utterances were given." This sense is attested in English from c.1400.
- orison
- c.1175, from Anglo-Fr. oreison, O.Fr. oraison "oration" (12c.), from L. orationem (nom. oratio) "speech, oration," in Church L. "prayer, appeal to God," from orare (see orator). Etymologically, a doublet of oration.
- peroration
- c.1440, from L. perorationem (nom. peroratio) "the ending of a speech or argument of a case," from peroratus, pp. of perorare "argue a case to the end, bring a speech to a close," from per- "to the end" + orare "to speak, plead" (see orator).
- adore
- c.1300, "to pay divine honors to," from O.Fr. aourer "to adore, worship" (10c.), from L. adorare "speak to formally, beseech, ask in prayer," in L.L. "to worship," from ad- "to" + orare "speak formally, pray" (see orator). Meaning "to honor very highly" is attested from 1590s; weakened sense of "to be very fond of" emerged by 1880s.
- apostrophe
- 1580s, from M.Fr. apostrophe, from L.L. apostrophus, from Gk. apostrophos (prosoidia) "(the accent of) turning away," thus, a mark showing where a letter has been omitted, from apostrephein "avert, turn away," from apo- "from" (see apo-) + strephein "to turn" (see strophe). In English, the mark usually represents loss of -e- in -es, possessive ending. Greek also used this word for a "turning aside" of an orator in speech to address some individual, a sense first recorded in Eng. 1530s.