prophesy
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpɹɒfɪsaɪ/
ipa: /ˈpɹɑfɪsaɪ/
Forms: form: prophesies
form: prophesying
form: prophesied
form: prophesied
form: prophecy
Etymology: From Middle English prophecien; partly from prophecie, and partly from Middle French prophecier, prophesier, from prophecie (“prophecy”). Doublet of prophecy.
Senses: examples: text: And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Joel 2:28:
text: No, but when the Spirit fils
The fantastick Pannicles:
Full of fier; then I write
ref: 1648, Robert Herrick, “Not every day fit for Verse” in Hesperides, London: John Williams & Francis Eglesfield, p. 285, ’Tis not ev’ry day, that I Fitted am to prophesie
roman: As the Godhead doth indite.
text: […] at that very moment a loud and high-pitched voice broke the outer silence of the night. It was Chielo, the priestess of Agbala, prophesying. There was nothing new in that. Once in a while Chielo was possessed by the spirit of her god and she began to prophesy.
ref: 1958, Chinua Achebe, chapter 11, in Things Fall Apart, New York: Astor-Honor, published 1959, part 1:
glosses: To speak or write with divine inspiration; to act as prophet.
examples: text: Then I perceive that will be verified
Henry the Fifth did sometime prophesy
‘If once he come to be a cardinal,
He’ll make his cap co-equal with the crown.’
ref: 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
text: My Lord of Hereford here whom you call King, / Is a foule traitour to proud Herefords King, / And if you crowne him let me propheſie, / The bloud of Engliſh ſhall manure the ground, / And future ages groane for this foule act, [...]
ref: 1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
text: He doth not prophesy good concerning me.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Kings 22:8:
text: People prophesied a long continuance to this already lengthened frost; said the spring would be very late; no spring fashions required; no summer clothing purchased for a short uncertain summer.
ref: 1848, Elizabeth Gaskell, chapter 5, in Mary Barton:
text: ‘It has been prophesied more than once that he will find it.’
ref: 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 745:
glosses: To predict, to foretell (with or without divine inspiration).
examples: text: Methought thy very gait did prophesy
A royal nobleness. I must embrace thee.
ref: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
glosses: To foreshow; to herald; to prefigure.
examples: 1646, Jeremy Taylor, Of the Liberty of Prophesying, Section 4, in Treatises of 1. The liberty of prophesying, 2. Prayer ex tempore, 3. Episcopacie: together with a sermon, London: R. Royston, 1648, p. 73,
[…] if we consider that we have no certain wayes of determining places of difficulty and Question, infallibly and certainly […] we shall see a very great necessity in allowing a liberty in Prophesying without prescribing authoritatively to other mens consciences, and becomming Lords and Masters of their Faith.
topics: Christianity
glosses: To speak out on the Bible as an expression of holy inspiration; to preach.
Related terms: word: prophecy
word: prophesier
word: prophesize
word: prophet
word: prophetic
word: prophetize