propheta

Pronunciation

• Classical: [prɔˈpʰeː.ta]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [proˈfɛː.ta]^[1]

Forms

prophēta m (genitive prophētae, feminine prophētis or prophētissa); first declension^[1] Inscriptions and old manuscripts also have profeta and profheta.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek προφήτης (prophḗtēs, “spokesman, interpreter”),^[3][1][4] which Köbler analyses as πρό (pró, “before”) and φάναι (phánai, “to say”).^[5] Tertullian and Isidore connected it with Latin praefor (“to say beforehand”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Festus reports that Julius Caesar Strabo, in his tragedy Adrastus, called the overseers of shrines and interpreters of oracles prophetae.^[6][4] Otherwise it is post-classical.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Apuleius uses it of an Egyptian priest and of men who, filled with divine power, tell others what they alone see;^[6][4] Macrobius of the Egyptian priests “whom they call prophets”.^[6][4] With Lactantius, Tertullian and the Vulgate it became the word for the prophets of the Bible.^[6][7]

In medieval Latin it also named the prophetic books of the Old Testament,^[8] and British writers applied it to Virgil, to Christ, to saints, to Mohammed and to soothsayers.^[9] At Toulouse, Du Cange reports, a priest who walked in the Rogation processions in deacon's vestments, carrying the cantor's staff, was called the propheta.^[10] English prophet, from the late 12th century, comes from Old French and directly from Latin.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of an Egyptian priest.^[6][4][5]
• 2nd half of the 2nd century AD – Festus reports its use by Julius Caesar Strabo.^[6][5]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of the biblical prophets.^[7][5]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius writes of the Jewish prophets.^[6][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of the prophets.^[6][5]
• late 12th century – English borrows it as prophet.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A spokesman or interpreter of a god; a priest of an oracle.^[3][6]
2. A foreteller, soothsayer.^[6][4]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A prophet of the Bible.^[6][8][12]
4. (Medieval Latin) One of the prophetic books of the Old Testament.^[8]
5. (Medieval Latin) At Toulouse, a priest taking part in the Rogation processions.^[10]

Related words

• prophētia
• prophēticus
• prophētissa
• English prophet

Usage notes

Isidore explains that Christ is called propheta because he revealed the future.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
13. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).