Library / English Dictionary

PROPHET

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An authoritative person who divines the future

Synonyms:

oracle; prophesier; prophet; seer; vaticinator

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("prophet" is a kind of...):

diviner (someone who claims to discover hidden knowledge with the aid of supernatural powers)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "prophet"):

augur; auspex ((ancient Rome) a religious official who interpreted omens to guide public policy)

prophetess (a woman prophet)

sibyl ((ancient Rome) a woman who was regarded as an oracle or prophet)

Derivation:

prophetic (foretelling events as if by supernatural intervention)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone who speaks by divine inspiration; someone who is an interpreter of the will of God

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("prophet" is a kind of...):

religious person (a person who manifests devotion to a deity)

Instance hyponyms:

Zarathustra; Zoroaster (Persian prophet who founded Zoroastrianism (circa 628-551 BC))

Sophonias; Zephaniah (a Hebrew minor prophet of the late 7th century BC)

Zacharias; Zechariah (a Hebrew minor prophet of the late 6th century BC)

Samuel ((Old Testament) Hebrew prophet and judge who anointed Saul as king)

Abdias; Obadiah (a Hebrew minor prophet)

Nahum (a Hebrew minor prophet of the 7th century BC)

Moses ((Old Testament) the Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites from Egypt across the Red sea on a journey known as the Exodus; Moses received the Ten Commandments from God on Mount Sinai)

Mormon (the ancient prophet whose writings were revealed to Joseph Smith who founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

Mahomet; Mahound; Mohammad; Mohammed; Muhammad (the Arab prophet who, according to Islam, was the last messenger of Allah (570-632))

Micah; Micheas (a minor Hebrew prophet (8th century BC))

Manes (a Persian prophet who founded Manichaeism (216-276))

Malachi; Malachias (a Hebrew minor prophet of the 5th century BC)

Jonah ((Old Testament) Jonah did not wish to become a prophet so God caused a great storm to throw him overboard from a ship; he was saved by being swallowed by a whale that vomited him out onto dry land)

Joel (a Hebrew minor prophet)

Christ; Deliverer; Good Shepherd; Jesus; Jesus Christ; Jesus of Nazareth; Redeemer; Savior; Saviour; the Nazarene (a teacher and prophet born in Bethlehem and active in Nazareth; his life and sermons form the basis for Christianity (circa 4 BC - AD 29))

Jeremiah ((Old Testament) an Israelite prophet who is remembered for his angry lamentations (jeremiads) about the wickedness of his people (circa 626-587 BC))

Isaiah ((Old Testament) the first of the major Hebrew prophets (8th century BC))

Hosea (a minor Hebrew prophet (8th century BC))

Aggeus; Haggai; Habakkuk (a Hebrew minor prophet)

Ezechiel; Ezekiel (a Hebrew prophet of the 6th century BC who was exiled to Babylon in 587 BC)

Elijah (a Hebrew prophet in the Old Testament who opposed the worship of idols; he was persecuted for rebuking Ahab and Jezebel (king and queen of Israel); he was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire (circa 9th century BC))

Daniel ((Old Testament) a youth who was taken into the court of Nebuchadnezzar and given divine protection when thrown into a den of lions (6th century BC))

Amos (a Hebrew shepherd and minor prophet)

Derivation:

prophetic; prophetical (foretelling events as if by supernatural intervention)

Credits

 Context examples: 

One great excellency in this tribe, is their skill at prognostics, wherein they seldom fail; their predictions in real diseases, when they rise to any degree of malignity, generally portending death, which is always in their power, when recovery is not: and therefore, upon any unexpected signs of amendment, after they have pronounced their sentence, rather than be accused as false prophets, they know how to approve their sagacity to the world, by a seasonable dose.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

“What a prophet you have shown yourself, Mister Copperfield!” pursued Uriah.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Battle royal was waged, amid the smoking of many cigarettes and the expectoration of much tobacco-juice, wherein the tramp successfully held his own, even when a socialist workman sneered, There is no god but the Unknowable, and Herbert Spencer is his prophet.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)