oratory

Noun

WordNet 3.0

Noun (1)

  1. addressing an audience formally (usually a long and rhetorical address and often pompous)“he loved the sound of his own oratory”
Advertisement

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Oratory \Or"a*to*ry\, n.; pl. Oratories. [OE. oratorie, fr. L. oratorium, fr. oratorius of praying, of an orator: cf. F. oratoire. See Orator, Oral, and cf. Oratorio.] A place of orisons, or prayer; especially, a chapel or small room set apart for private devotions. [1913 Webster]

An oratory [temple] . . . in worship of Dian. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

Do not omit thy prayers for want of a good oratory, or place to pray in. --Jer. Taylor. [1913 Webster]

Fathers of the Oratory (R. C. Ch.), a society of priests founded by St. Philip Neri, living in community, and not bound by a special vow. The members are called also oratorians. [1913 Webster]

Oratory \Or"a*to*ry\, n. [L. oratoria (sc. ars) the oratorical art.] The art of an orator; the art of public speaking in an eloquent or effective manner; the exercise of rhetorical skill in oral discourse; eloquence. "The oratory of Greece and Rome." --Milton. [1913 Webster]

When a world of men Could not prevail with all their oratory. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

The Devil's Dictionary

ORATORY, n. A conspiracy between speech and action to cheat the understanding. A tyranny tempered by stenography.
Advertisement