orator English · revision 954

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɒ.ɹə.tə(ɹ)/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|oratour]], [[bor|xno|oratour]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and directly [[der|la|ōrātor|t=speaker; pleader]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from ''ōrāre'' “to speak before a court or assembly, to plead, to pray”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) Weekley and de Vaan relate ''ōrāre'' to ''ōs'' “mouth”, whereas others connect it with a Proto-Indo-European root ''*or-'' “to pronounce a ritual formula”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ One who pleads or argues for a person or cause; an advocate or spokesman (c. 1374), a sense now obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In late Middle English an ''orator'' was also one who offers a prayer or petition (1433), a sense used in signing letters to a superior.^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) The general sense of a public speaker, especially an eloquent one, dates from about 1430.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) At Oxford and Cambridge the ''Public Orator'' speaks on behalf of the university on ceremonial occasions (1614).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1374 – an advocate, a spokesman.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1433 – a petitioner.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1430 – a public speaker.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1494 – an envoy (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1614 – ''Public Orator''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who delivers an [[oration]]; a public speaker.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An eloquent and skilled public speaker.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(law)'' A plaintiff in a court of equity.^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[oratorship]]

+ * [[oratorlike]]

+ * [[oratory]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[oration]]

+ * [[oracle]]

+ * [[oral]]

+ * [[adore]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}