prophesy

C2+ Topic:Time

US /ˈprɑfəsaɪ/ UK /ˈprɒfəsaɪ/ See IPA manual

verb

Meanings

1

verb
to predict or foretell a future event

The seer dared to prophesy the fall of the empire.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to predict or foretell a... predict foretell forecast augur presage foresee prognosticate divine

Word family

Related forms prophecy prophet prophetic

Etymology

From Old French prophecier, from prophecie ('prophecy'), ultimately from Ancient Greek prophēteia, from prophētēs ('one who speaks for a god'), from pro- ('before, for') + phēmi ('I speak').

prophēteia Ancient Greek phēmi Ancient Greek *bʰeh₂- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Time Word Formation & Derivatives

# prophesy

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** ˈprɑfəsaɪ
**IPA (UK):** ˈprɒfəsaɪ

## Meanings
1. to predict or foretell a future event

## Examples
- The seer dared to prophesy the fall of the empire.

## Synonyms
- predict
- foretell
- forecast
- augur
- presage
- foresee
- prognosticate
- divine

## Related Forms
- prophecy
- prophet
- prophetic

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: prophēteia
- Root: phēmi
- Root: *bʰeh₂-

## Etymology
From Old French prophecier, from prophecie ('prophecy'), ultimately from Ancient Greek prophēteia, from prophētēs ('one who speaks for a god'), from pro- ('before, for') + phēmi ('I speak').

## AI Etymology
Prophesy is from Old French prophecier, from prophecie ('prophecy'), ultimately from Ancient Greek prophēteia, from prophētēs ('one who speaks for a god'), from pro- ('before, for') + phēmi ('I speak'). Important recorded forms include prophēteia (Ancient Greek), phēmi (Ancient Greek), and *bʰeh₂- (Proto-Indo-European). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers to predict or foretell a future event. The wider family includes related words such as prophecy, prophet, and prophetic.

## Topics
- Time
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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