| 释义 |
▪ I. oracle, n.|ˈɒrək(ə)l|
[ME. oˈracle, a. F. oracle (12th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. L. ōrācul-um (ōrāclum), f. ōrāre to speak, plead, pray, with suffix -culo- of material instrument.]
I. Originally.
1. a. In Gr. and Rom. Antiq. The instrumentality, agency, or medium, by which a god was supposed to speak or make known his will; the mouthpiece of the deity; the place or seat of such instrumentality, at which divine utterances were believed to be given.
c1400tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 48 To þe tyme þat y cam to þe Oracle of þe sone þat Esculapides mad for hym, where y fand oon solitarye man abstinente ful wys of Philosophie. c1477Caxton Jason 4 And they visyted temples and oracles unto the consummation of their dayes. 1574Hellowes Gueuara's Fam. Ep. (1577) 174 Amongst all the oratories that..they had in Asia, the most famous was the Oracle of Delphos: for to that place from all partes of the worlde they did concurre. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. ii. iii. 194 Please' your Highnesse, Posts From those you sent to th' Oracle, are come An houre since. 1629Milton Hymn Nativity 173 The Oracles are dumm. 1692Dryden St. Euremont's Ess. 284 He speaks like the Oracles to puzzle the World. 1814Wordsw. Laodamia viii, The Delphic oracle foretold That the first Greek who touched the Trojan strand Should die. 1835Thirlwall Greece I. vi. 205 The Gods..had a great variety of agents and vehicles at their disposal, for conveying the secrets of their prescience... Sometimes they attached it to a certain place, the seat of their immediate presence, which is then termed an oracle. 1884J. Tait Mind in Matter (1892) 255 The great Oracles of antiquity belonged to the Greeks.
b. Hence, allusively, to work the oracle, to influence the agency or medium; to obtain an utterance in one's favour, or to procure a favourable issue in a matter, by influence or manœuvring behind the scenes; also (slang), to raise money.
1863All Year Round 10 Oct. 168 He has a double, who..worked the oracle for him. 1886Pall Mall G. 1 Sept. 1/3 Every reader will be able to form his own judgment of the methods which [certain publishers] adopt to ‘work the oracle’ in their favour. 1891J. Newman Scamping Tricks xiv. 116 With..big local loan-mongers to work the oracle and swim with them.
2. A response, decision, or message, given usually by a priest or priestess of a god, and, as was supposed, by his inspiration, at the shrine or seat where the deity was supposed to be thus accessible to inquirers. These responses were for the most part obscure or ambiguous; to which allusion is made in later senses of the word and its derivatives.
1598R. Grenewey Tacitus, Ann. iii. xiii. (1622) 83 The Smyrnæans alleaged an oracle of Apollo, by which they were commanded to dedicate a temple to Venus Stratonicis. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. iii. ii. 119 Therefore bring forth (And in Apollo's Name) his Oracle. 1647A. Ross Mystag. Poet. xvi. (1675) 388 The seat from whence she [Sibyl] gave her Oracles. 1791Cowper Iliad v. 78 Unskill'd to spell aright The oracles predictive of the woe. 1838Thirlwall Greece III. 59 An oracle was procured exactly suited to the purpose of the leaders of the expedition. 1847Prescott Peru (1850) II. 89 The temple of Pachacamac continued to maintain its ascendancy; and the oracles, delivered from its dark and mysterious shrine, were held in no less repute among the natives..than the oracles of Delphi obtained among the Greeks. 1885–94R. Bridges Eros & Psyche Apr. x, The chanting Pythoness gave oracle, And thus in priestly verse the sentence ran.
II. Transferred to Jewish, Christian, or other religious use.
3. A vehicle or medium of divine communication.
a. That part of the Jewish Temple where the divine presence was manifested; the holy of holies; also, the mercy-seat within it.
c1440Wyclif's Exod. xxv. 18, 19 Thou schalt make on euer eithir side of Goddis answeryng place [Bodl. MS. 277 the oracle] twei cherubyns of gold..o cherub be in o syde of Goddis answeryng place [Bodl. the oracle]. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 72 b/2 The preestes sette the Arke in the hows of our lord in the oracle of the temple in sancta sanctorum under the wynges of cherubyn. 1609Bible (Douay) Exod. xxxvii. 6 He made also the Propitiatorie, that is, the Oracle, of the purest golde. 1611Bible Ps. xxviii. 2 When I lift vp my handes toward thy holy Oracle. 1667Milton P.L. i. 12 Sion Hill..and Siloa's Brook that flowd Fast by the Oracle of God. 1838Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) XVI. 514 Oracle is in sacred history sometimes used for the mercy-seat, or the cover of the ark of the covenant; and by others it is taken for the sanctuary, or the most holy place, in which the ark was deposited.
b. Applied to the breastplate of the Jewish High Priest, the Urim and Thummim, by which divine messages were believed to be communicated.
1868Marriott Vest. Chr. 5 On the breastplate (or ‘Oracle’) are set twelve stones of unusual size and beauty.
c. One who or that which expounds or interprets the will of God; a divine teacher.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI 109 In his company Ione the Puzel, whom he used as an oracle and a southsaier. 1671Milton P.R. i. 460 God hath now sent his living Oracle Into the World, to teach his final will. a1711Ken Div. Love Wks. (1838) 307, I adore thee, O heavenly Oracle of Love, for contriving this prayer in that admirable method. 1833J. H. Newman Arians i. iii. (1876) 82 In the history of Balaam..a bad man and a heathen is made the oracle of true divine messages. 1863E. V. Neale Anal. Th. & Nat. 129 Bacon had brought man to the feet of nature, as to a Divine oracle.
4. Divine revelation; a declaration or message expressed or delivered by divine inspiration; also, pl. the sacred scriptures (from Rom. iii. 2).
c1384Chaucer H. Fame i. 11 Why this a dreme, why that a swevene, And noght to euery man lyche evene, Why this affaintome, why these oracles. 14..in Tundale's Vis. (1843) 93 Whos vertue was to Kyng Saloman Full long aforon in dyuyne oracle As I fynd schewed by myracle. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. ii. 26 The oracles or sayinges of God. 1557N. T. (Geneva) Acts vii. 38 This is that Moses..who receaued the lyuely oracles to geue vnto vs. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 3 The forme [of Scripture being] Gods word,..Gods oracles. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage x. ii. 133 First had divine mercy by Oracle removed the Christians to Pella out of the danger. 1737Pope Hor. Epist. ii. i. 28 Whose Word is Truth, as sacred and rever'd, As Heav'n's own Oracles from Altars heard. 1746–7Hervey Medit. (1818) 106 By Him, says the Oracle of inspiration, all things consist. 1844Stanley Arnold I. iv. 213 In the Bible, he [Arnold] found and acknowledged an oracle of God—a positive and supernatural revelation made to man, an immediate inspiration of the Spirit.
†5. An injunction or command of the Pope. Obs. (Cf. late L. oraculum ‘an imperial rescript’ (Just. Inst.).)
1579Fulke Confut. Sanders 551 The Frenchmen deposed their King Childericus by the Oracle of Pope Zacharie, which discharged them of their..othe of obedience. 1625tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. i. (1688) 21 A commandment given vivâ voce by the Oracle of the most Holy Lord the Pope, in the virtue of his holy Obedience, and under pain of the greater Excommunication..not to depart the City.
III. Figurative senses.
6. a. Something reputed to give oracular replies or advice.
1625Hart Anat. Ur. i. v. 47 This Parson being..reputed famous in vromancie, this Gentlewoman had recourse to his oracle. 1713Pope Windsor For. 382, I see..a new Whitehall ascend! There mighty Nations shall inquire their doom, The World's great Oracle in times to come. 1831Brewster Newton (1855) II. xxvii. 404 The oracle which he had himself established refused to give its responses.
b. Something regarded as an infallible guide or indicator, esp. when its action is viewed as recondite or mysterious, as a chronometer, a compass.
1726Swift Gulliver i. ii, He called it [a watch] his oracle, and said it pointed out the time for every action of his life. 1738― Pol. Conversat. i. 108 Pray, my Lord, what's a Clock by your Oracle? 1762Falconer Shipwr. ii. 105 And by the oracle of truth below, The wondrous magnet, guides the wayward prow. 1837W. Irving Capt. Bonneville III. 97 This little, whining, feast-smelling animal, is, therefore, called among Indians the ‘medicine wolf’; and such was one of Buckey's infallible oracles.
7. A person of great wisdom or knowledge, whose opinions or decisions are generally accepted; an authority reputed or affecting to be infallible.
1596Shakes. Merch. V. i. i. 93, I am sir Oracle, And when I ope my lips, let no dog barke. 1632Lithgow Trav. vii. 303 He straight sent for a Iewish Phisitian, his familiar Oracle. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. iii. §26 He [Lord Say] had for many years been the Oracle of those who were call'd Puritans in the worst sense, and steer'd all their counsels and designs. 1705Stanhope Paraphr. III. 526 The Oracles of the Law being called together to consult, the demand made of them is Where Christ should be born. 1852Tennyson Ode Wellington iv, O friends, our chief state-oracle is mute. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. vi. 56 It is a fine thing to be an oracle to which an appeal is always made in all discussions.
8. An utterance of deep import or wisdom; an opinion or declaration regarded as authoritative and infallible; undeniable truth.
1569J. Sandford tr. Agrippa's Van. Artes 12 For that cause the Auncientes surnamed Homer his Oracles, of the verses of Homer. 1610Histrio-m. iii. 38 Are not you Lawyers, from whose reverend lippes Th' amazed multitude learne Oracles? 1632Massinger City Madam ii. ii, Lady Frugal [after Stargaze has given an astrological exposition]. Kneel, and give thanks. Sir Maurice. For what we under⁓stand not?..Lady F. Be incredulous: To me, 'tis oracle. 1701W. Wotton Hist. Rome, Marcus vi. 101 His Words were received as Oracles. 1842Abdy Water Cure (1843) 175 Such epithets..pronounced with a grave face by those whose looks are omens, and whose words are oracles.
9. a. An oracular reply; a wise or prudent answer.
1638Penit. Conf. (1657) 343 It was the glory of Queen Elizabeth..that wise answer or Oracle she returned to a Pragmatick Petition.
b. A prognostication, such as those in almanacs.
1596Bp. W. Barlow Three Serm. i. 11 One of their owne late Prophets..hath very fitlie prefixed before his yearely false oracles, I would say Almanacks [etc.].
10. (With capital initial.) The proprietary name of a type of teletext system. [See quot. 19762.]
1973IBA Technical Rev. iii. 61 Oracle—broadcasting the written word. Engineers of the IBA have recently developed and demonstrated an experimental data system, Oracle, capable of providing a continuous public information service on conventional television transmitting networks. With this system the public could receive up to 50 different ‘pages’ of information ‘written’ on their television screens, each page containing up to 880 characters, or roughly 120 words. These messages can be displayed or superimposed on the screen of a domestic television receiver without in any way affecting the reception of normal television programmes. Ibid. 62/1 Experimental Oracle transmissions are being made on the IBA's London television stations. Ibid. 63/2 The domestic television set requires adaptation for Oracle either by means of an independent add-on unit or,..by an internal modification. 1974Trade Marks Jrnl. 17 July 1295/2 Oracle... Apparatus for the transmission or reception of television signals and apparatus for the transmission of, processing of, or visual display of alphanumeric characters and/or characters for defining parts of diagrams. Independent Broadcasting Authority.., London,..; manufacturers and merchants. 1975Spectator 19 July 86/3 Within a year or two..‘teletext’—the generic term for the system used by both Ceefax and Oracle—will take its place in the ordinary person's vocabulary. 1976Times 19 May 1/8 At present experimental Teletext services are being broadcast by both the BBC and the Independent Broadcasting Authority, under the names Ceefax and Oracle respectively. 1976P. R. Hutt in IBA Technical Rev. ix. 4/2 The author hit on the idea of the name ‘oracle’ one Sunday while lunching with friends. Being a classical source of advice and information the name seemed to be very apposite, and it was not long before it was made into an acronym for ‘Optional Reception of Announcements by Coded Line Electonics’.
11. attrib. and Comb., as oracle-monger, oracle-shop; oracle-like adj.; oracle-wise adv.; oracle bones, bones used in ancient China for divination (see quot. 1970).
1611Cotgr., Oraculeux, Oracle-like, true as the Gospell. 1625K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis i. xx. 64 Meleander's Thoughts runne upon that, that Oracle-wise was uttered by her. 1663Gerbier Counsel d iv, Your Apollo's Oracle-like Arcenall. 1673Cave Prim. Chr. i. i. 7 The Impostor setting up for an Oracle-monger. 1675Cotton Scoffer Scoft 114 He sets up Oracle-shops in Greece. 1860Rawlinson tr. Herodotus vii. vi. IV. 6 Onomacritus of Athens, an oracle-monger..who set forth the prophecies of Musæus. 1915Encycl. Relig. & Ethics VIII. 262/1 During recent years a very interesting discovery of ‘oracle bones’ and tortoise-shell fragments was made in the province of Honan. 1934K. S. Latourette Chinese I. ii. 40 Inscriptions on the ‘oracle bones’, used for divination. 1970Bray & Trump Dict. Archaeol. 167/2 Oracle bones. Animal bones, particularly ox shoulder-blades and tortoise shells, were employed by the ancient Chinese for divination purposes. A groove was cut in the bone, after which a hot point was applied nearby, and the shape of the resulting cracks determined the answer. 1977G. W. Hewes in D. M. Rumbaugh Lang. Learning by Chimpanzee i. 31 He found evidence for this theory in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, and in the most ancient form of Chinese writing, on the Shang oracle-bones and bronzes.
▪ II. ˈoracle, v. rare.
[f. prec. n.]
1. trans. To utter or pronounce as an oracle; to proclaim as by divine inspiration or authority.
c1595R. Southwell St. Peter's Compl. Ded., The Heathen, whose Gods were chiefely canonized by their Poets, and their paynim Diuinitie oracled, in verse. 1600W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 356 We finde this difference..to be oracled from those diuine lips that knew best how to terme them. 1645Milton Colast. Wks. (1851) 343 A by-blow from the Pulpit..more beholding to the authority of that devout place..then to any sound reason which it could oracle. 1922Joyce Ulysses 183 All these questions are purely academic, Russell oracled out of his shadow. 1952C. Day Lewis tr. Virgil's Aeneid iii. 58 This is not the land which Delian Apollo Oracled for you.
2. intr. To speak as an oracle.
1654Whitlock Zootomia 254 If it Oracle contrary to our Interest, or Humour, we will create an Amphiboly..and make it speak our meaning. 1790Bystander 159 He augured—or Oracled, if Mr. Bell likes it better—very greatly of the prodigious improvements he would make. 1812W. Tennant Anster F. vi. xxxiv, Nor deem that some dumb beldam..Hath oracling deceiv'd me like a fool.
Hence ˈoracling vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1656T. Ady Candle in Dark 77 A hollow feigned voyce which those Witches or Deceivers used in their Oracling Divinations. 1671Milton P.R. i. 455 No more shalt thou by oracling abuse The Gentiles. |