prophet

C1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈpɹɑ.fɪt/ UK /ˈpɹɒf.ɪt/ See IPA manual

Homophones

profit /ˈpɹɑfɪt/

Freq #6799

Meanings

1

noun
A person believed to speak on behalf of God and deliver religious messages

Muslims believe that Muhammad was the final prophet sent to mankind.
2

noun
A person who predicts what will happen in the future

Critics called him a prophet of doom for warning of the crash years earlier.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · a person who predicts what... oracle

Word family

Forms prophets

Derived forms antiprophetcole-prophetpiss-prophetprophecyprophesiseprophesizeprophesypropheteeringprophetessprophethoodpropheticpropheticide

Appears in

Proverbs (1)

See all

A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country

Simplified etymology

Prophet, recorded in Middle English, ultimately contains the Greek verbal root phēnai, “to speak.” The same root appears through phēmē, “speaking,” in euphemism.

Etymology

From Middle English prophete, from Anglo-Norman prophete, from Latin prophēta, from Ancient Greek προφήτης (prophḗtēs, “one who speaks for a god”), from πρό (pró, “before”) + φημί (phēmí, “to tell”). Displaced native Old English wītga.

*per- Proto-Indo-European prophete Middle English prophēta Latin προφήτης Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# prophet

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɹɑ.fɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈpɹɒf.ɪt/
**Frequency rank:** 6799

## Meanings
1. A person believed to speak on behalf of God and deliver religious messages
2. A person who predicts what will happen in the future

## Examples
- Muslims believe that Muhammad was the final prophet sent to mankind.
- Critics called him a prophet of doom for warning of the crash years earlier.

## Derived Forms
- antiprophet
- cole-prophet
- piss-prophet
- prophecy
- prophesise
- prophesize
- prophesy
- propheteering
- prophetess
- prophethood
- prophetic
- propheticide

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *per-
- Root: prophete
- Root: prophēta
- Root: προφήτης

## Etymology
From Middle English prophete, from Anglo-Norman prophete, from Latin prophēta, from Ancient Greek προφήτης (prophḗtēs, “one who speaks for a god”), from πρό (pró, “before”) + φημί (phēmí, “to tell”). Displaced native Old English wītga.

## AI Etymology
Prophet is from Middle English prophete, from Anglo-Norman prophete, from Latin prophēta, from Ancient Greek προφήτης (prophḗtēs, “one who speaks for a god”), from πρό (pró, “before”) + φημί (phēmí, “to tell”). Displaced native Old English wītga. In present-day use, it can mean a person believed to speak on behalf of God and deliver religious messages, or a person who predicts what will happen in the future. Derived formations include antiprophet, cole-prophet, piss-prophet, prophecy, and prophesise.

## Topics
- People & Society

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