any of certain women of antiquity reputed to possess powers of prophecy or divination.
a female prophet or witch.
(in ancient Greece and Rome) any of a number of women believed to be oracles or prophetesses, one of the most famous being the sibyl of Cumae, who guided Aeneas through the underworld
a witch, fortune-teller, or sorceress
1250–1300; < Greek Síbylla Sibylla; replacing Middle English Sibil < Medieval Latin Sibilla < Greek, as above
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The 5-inch drawing depicts the right foot of the Libyan Sibyl, a blonde prophetess wearing a creamsicle gown painted onto the chapel ceiling’s eastern end.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026
Experts at Christie's say it is a foot sketch of the Libyan Sibyl which was later painted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
From BBC • Feb. 5, 2026
The set by Sibyl Wickersheimer is full of sunshiny touches suggesting the work of a child creating a magical space to ward off domestic sadness.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 18, 2023
From there it’s on to Frankenstein, Bigfoot and Sasquatch as Abrons presents a streaming video adaptation of Sibyl Kempson’s “The Securely Conferred, Vouchsafed Keepsakes of Maery S.,” beginning Oct.
From New York Times • Aug. 3, 2021
The way the Sibyl thought it necessary to start was calculated to frighten any but the boldest.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
