Oratory

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: Or=a=to=ry

CIDE DICTIONARY

Oratory, n. [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."  [1913 Webster]
"Do not omit thy prayers for want of a good oratory, or place to pray in."  [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.

Oratory, 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.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]
"When a world of men
Could not prevail with all their oratory."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Oratory, n. (pl. -ies)
1 the art or practice of formal speaking, esp. in public.
2 exaggerated, eloquent, or highly coloured language.
3 a small chapel, esp. for private worship.
4 (Oratory) RC Ch. a a religious society of priests without vows founded in Rome in 1564 and providing plain preaching and popular services. b a branch of this in England etc.

Derivative

oratorian adj. & n. oratorical adj.

Etymology

senses 1 and 2 f. L ars oratoria art of speaking; senses 3 and 4 ME f. AF oratorie, OF oratoire f. eccl.L oratorium: both f. L oratorius f. orare pray, speak

DEVIL DICTIONARY

Oratory

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

THESAURUS

Oratory

Lady chapel, address, articulateness, articulation, chantry, chapel, chapel of ease, chapel royal, command of language, command of words, debating, declamation, demagogism, diction, effective style, elocution, eloquence, eloquent tongue, enunciation, expression, expressiveness, facundity, felicitousness, felicity, fluency, forensics, gift of expression, gift of gab, glibness, grandiloquence, graphicness, homiletics, lecturing, magniloquence, meaningfulness, oratorium, platform oratory, public speaking, pyrotechnics, rabble-rousing, rhetoric, sacellum, sacrament chapel, sacrarium, school chapel, side chapel, silver tongue, slickness, smoothness, speaking, speechcraft, speechification, speeching, speechmaking, stump speaking, vividness, wordcraft

ROGET THESAURUS

Oratory

Speech

N speech, faculty of speech, locution, talk, parlance, verbal intercourse, prolation, oral communication, word of mouth, parole, palaver, prattle, effusion, oration, recitation, delivery, say, speech, lecture, harangue, sermon, tirade, formal speech, peroration, speechifying, soliloquy, allocution, conversation, salutatory : screed: valedictory, oratory, elocution, eloquence, rhetoric, declamation, grandiloquence, multiloquence, burst of eloquence, facundity, flow of words, command of words, command of language, copia verborum, power of speech, gift of the gab, usus loquendi, speaker, spokesman, prolocutor, interlocutor, mouthpiece, Hermes, orator, oratrix, oratress, Demosthenes, Cicero, rhetorician, stump orator, platform orator, speechmaker, patterer, improvisatore, speaking, spoken, oral, lingual, phonetic, not written, unwritten, outspoken, eloquent, elocutionary, oratorical, rhetorical, declamatory, grandiloquent, talkative, Ciceronian, nuncupative, Tullian, orally, by word of mouth, viva voce, from the lips of, quoth he, said he, action is eloquence, pour the full tide of eloquence along, she speaks poignards and every word stabs, speech is but broken light upon the depth of the u, to try thy eloquence now 'tis time.

Temple

N temple, place of worship, house of God, house of prayer, temple, cathedral, minster, church, kirk, chapel, meetinghouse, bethel, tabernacle, conventicle, basilica, fane, holy place, chantry, oratory, synagogue, mosque, marabout, pantheon, pagoda, joss house, dogobah, tope, kiosk, kiack, masjid, parsonage, rectory, vicarage, manse, deanery, glebe, Vatican, bishop's palace, Lambeth, altar, shrine, sanctuary, Holy of Holies, sanctum sanctorum, sacristy, sacrarium, communion table, holy table, Lord's table, table of the Lord, pyx, baptistery, font, piscina, stoup, aumbry, sedile, reredos, rood loft, rood screen, chancel, quire, choir, nave, aisle, transept, vestry, crypt, golgotha, calvary, Easter sepulcher, stall, pew, pulpit, ambo, lectern, reading desk, confessional, prothesis, credence, baldachin, baldacchino, apse, belfry, chapter house, presbytery, anxious-bench, anxious-seat, diaconicum, jube, mourner's bench, mourner's seat, cloisters, churchyard, monastery, priory, abbey, friary, convent, nunnery, cloister, claustral, cloistered, monastic, monasterial, conventual, ne vile fano, there's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple.