Etymologically
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prophetic

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Pronunciation

  • /pɹəˈfɛtɪk/[1]

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

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