prophetic

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English prophetik,^[2] borrowed from Middle French prophétique (“relating to a prophecy”) and directly borrowed from Late Latin prophēticus (“uttered by a prophet”),^{[3][4][5][6][7]} from Ancient Greek προφητικός (prophētikós, “of a prophet, oracular”),^[3][4][6] from προφήτης (prophḗtēs, “prophet”) and the suffix -ικός (-ikós).^[3][6] The French adjective is recorded from the late 14th century, and the Latin one from the early 3rd century, in Tertullian.^[3] The Greek noun, the source of prophet, meant literally "one who speaks forth", its second part from the root of the verb "to speak",^[8][4] from Proto-Indo-European *bha- (“to speak, tell, say”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to a prophet or prophecy: about 1484, in a translation of the Secreta Secretorum, which speaks of "phylosophyk or prophetyk wysdam".^[3][2] Etymonline dates the word to the late 15th century,^[4] and Dictionary.com to 1585–95.^[9] The longer form prophetical is older, from the mid-15th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The sense "foretelling, predicting what will happen" is recorded from before 1616, in Shakespeare's King John,^[3] and the passive sense "spoken of in prophecy, foretold" from 1651, in Hobbes's Leviathan.^[3] In grammar, from 1787, a prophetic tense is a present or past tense used for a future event presented as certain,^[3] as in the prophetic present and prophetic perfect.^[7] The Latin adjective already had this grammatical use in 1758, in the work translated in 1787.^[3]

Timeline

• mid 15th century – prophetical.^[4]
• c. 1484 – of a prophet or prophecy.^[3][2]
• before 1616 – predicting or presaging something.^[3]
• 1651 – foretold in prophecy.^[3]
• 1787 – in grammar, of a tense expressing a certain future.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or typical of a prophet or prophecy: the prophetic books of the Old Testament.^[10][5][3]
2. Correctly foretelling what will happen; predictive: His gloomy forecast turned out to be prophetic.^[10][5][3]
3. (grammar) Of a tense other than the future, used for a future event presented as certain, as in the prophetic perfect.^[3][7]

Word family

• prophetically
• propheticalness
• propheticality
• nonprophetic
• preprophetic
• pseudoprophetic
• unprophetic

Related words

• prophet
• prophetical
• prophecy
• prophesy

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins