sibyl

¹

[sib-uhl]

noun

1. any of certain women of antiquity reputed to possess powers of prophecy or divination.

2. a female prophet or witch.

Sibyl

²

Or Sib·ylle

[sib-uhl]

noun

1. a female given name.

sibyl

/ ˈsɪbɪˌlaɪn, sɪˈbɪlaɪn, ˈsɪbɪl, sɪˈbɪlɪk /

noun

1. (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

2. a witch, fortune-teller, or sorceress

Other Word Forms

• sibylline adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sibyl¹

1250–1300; < Greek Síbylla Sibylla; replacing Middle English Sibil < Medieval Latin Sibilla < Greek, as above

Word History and Origins

Origin of sibyl¹

C13: ultimately from Greek Sibulla, of obscure origin

Example Sentences

“It is an amazing thing that we can become so interested in art discussion that our ‘sibyl war’ has widened art appreciation,” Dunlap wrote in 1934 before stepping down as president because of the controversy.

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It was deemed a line straight to God — staggering, the voice of an enchantress, a sibyl, a siren.

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Why did he go to so much trouble when the finished sibyl is mostly clothed and must be viewed from a considerable distance below?

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But not even a sibyl could have made sense of those tiny scraps of paper.

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Since the mid-1980s, Ms. Cook has reigned as a kind of sibyl channeling the wisdom and humanity of the American songbook, particularly as embodied in the work of Stephen Sondheim.

Read more on New York Times