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Vaticinate – Word of the Day

By June 12, 2023January 1st, 2024No Comments
vaticinate - word of the day, pencils shown horizontally and layered vertically from top to bottom

Vaticinate is today’s Word of the Day.

WORD TYPE DEFINITION PRONUNCIATION
Vaticinate Verb To foretell or predict vuhtisuh-neyt
SOURCE Derived from Latin vāticinārī “to make divinely inspired predictions, prophesy,” which is equivalent to vātēs “seer” and -cin-, a combining form of canere “to sing.” Recorded in use in the early 1600’s.
EXAMPLES
  1. “I have been occasionally struck at the Jeremiads of honest George Withers, the vaticinating poet of our civil wars: some of his works afford many solemn predictions.” Source: Isaac Disraeli
  2. “You enquire after Dante’s Prophecy: I have not done more than six hundred lines, but will vaticinate at leisure.” Source: Thomas Moore
  3. “One of the big New York publishers was waiting for his new book, and showing signs of impatience; and the house in Mapledale Avenue was converted into a sanctuary where the family seer might vaticinate undisturbed.”  Source:
    Edith Wharton, The Gods Arrive, 1932
  4. After the same manner, poets, who are under the protection of Apollo, when they are drawing near their latter end do ordinarily become prophets, and by the inspiration of that god sing sweetly in vaticinating things which are to come.”   Source:  François Rabelais (c1489–1553), The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel, Book 3, translated by Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty and Peter Antony Motteux, 1693

Information Sources:  Combination of Dictionary.com; Dictionary of American Regional English; Merriam-Webster Dictionary; Collins English Dictionary; Oxford English Dictionary; Vocabulary.com; A Word a Day; The Etyman™; The Word Finder (J.I. Rodale)
Photography Source:  © Copyright 2023, The Chief Storyteller ®, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Pencils from Unsplash, Kelli Tungay
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Ira Koretsky

Ira Koretsky is the CEO of The Chief Storyteller®. He helps you improve performance and employee engagement with better communication. Storytelling in all its forms is his secret sauce. He is also an adjunct professor in public speaking, storytelling, and data storytelling at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business. With over 25 years of experience, he is a sought-after global speaker, trainer, consultant, and coach for storytelling and public speaking.