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orate

[aw-reyt, oh-reyt, awr-eyt, ohr-eyt]
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verb (used with or without object), o·rat·ed, o·rat·ing.
  1. to deliver an oration; speak pompously; declaim.
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Origin of orate

First recorded in 1590–1600; back formation from oration
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for orating

Historical Examples

  • I remember her standing by the fire and orating, with her tea cup in her hand.

    Affinities and Other Stories

    Mary Roberts Rinehard

  • But their opportunity for orating is severely circumscribed.

  • I believe I'd rather see you orating on the streets, like Eliza Provost.

    The Three Black Pennys

    Joseph Hergesheimer

  • Douglass, was orating, two Irishmen passing by stopped and listened a few minutes, then started on.

    The Southern Soldier Boy

    James Carson Elliott

  • If they don't practise the boys in the art of orating, don't you tell me there's an American citizen with a voice in that society.

    The Fallen Leaves

    Wilkie Collins

British Dictionary definitions for orating

orate

verb (intr)
  1. to make or give an oration
  2. to speak pompously and lengthily
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for orating

orate

v.

c.1600, "to pray, to plead," from Latin oratus, past participle of orare "speak, pray, plead, speak before a court or assembly" (see orator). The meaning "make a formal speech" emerged c.1860 in American English as a back-formation of oration. Related: Orated; orating.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper