oratory

¹

[ awr-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee, or- ]

noun

1. skill or eloquence in public speaking:

   The evangelist moved thousands to repentance with his oratory.

   Synonyms: declamation, delivery, rhetoric

2. the art of public speaking, especially in a formal and eloquent manner.

oratory

²

[ awr-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee, or- ]

noun

, plural or·a·to·ries.

1. a place of prayer, as a small chapel or a room for private devotions.
2. (initial capital letter) Roman Catholic Church. any of the religious societies of secular priests who live in religious communities but do not take vows.

oratory

¹

/ -trɪ; ˈɒrətərɪ /

noun

1. the art of public speaking
2. rhetorical skill or style

Oratory

²

/ ˈɒrətərɪ; -trɪ /

noun

1. Also calledCongregation of the Oratory the religious society of secular priests ( Oratorians ) living in a community founded by St Philip Neri
2. any church belonging to this society

   the Brompton Oratory

oratory

³

/ ˈɒrətərɪ; -trɪ /

noun

1. a small room or secluded place, set apart for private prayer

Derived Forms

• ˌoraˈtorical, adjective
• ˌoraˈtorically, adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of oratory¹

1580–90; < Latin ōrātōria, noun use of feminine of ōrātōrius of an orator. See orator, -tory ¹

Origin of oratory²

1300–50; Middle English < Late Latin ōrātōrium place of prayer. See orator, -tory ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of oratory¹

C16: from Latin ( ars ) ōrātōria (the art of) public speaking

Origin of oratory²

C14: from Anglo-Norman, from Church Latin ōrātōrium place of prayer, from ōrāre to plead, pray

Example Sentences

Mario Cuomo’s charisma and oratory could carry the day in his heyday.

From Time

Original oratory is supposed to be on a topic the speaker cares deeply about, and I remember being one of the few who gave a very personal one.

From Time

Once-predictable high school oratory is starting to reflect a wider shift in how Americans talk about race, gender and the distribution of power in the United States—even if not everyone wants to hear what these young speakers have to say.

From Time

You got kids in oratory writing about their undocumented parents.

From Time

These oratories draw clear lines between speaker and audience, and their solutions do not always invite easy agreement.

From Time

For his oratory work he was paid over $1.3 million (a significant amount of which he donated to charity).

From The Daily Beast

No amount of sweet-sounding oratory is going to disabuse him of his hard-driving partisan agenda.

From The Daily Beast

He launches into a flight of oratory on the past greatness of Petra.

From The Daily Beast

And for good reason: images of the crowd at political conventions can be as important as the oratory.

From The Daily Beast

That kind of oratory is not necessarily unusual in Arab countries, even those at peace with Israel.

From The Daily Beast

Academies are to universities as maturity is to childhood, oratory to grammar, or politeness to the first lessons in civility.

From Project Gutenberg

It was one of the triumphs of Bright's oratory that it constantly produced these popular cries.

From Project Gutenberg

Thus in oratory as in history the ancients can boast of most illustrious examples, never even equalled.

From Project Gutenberg

Socrates insisted upon the gift of oratory for a general in the army as well as for a leader in political life.

From Project Gutenberg

The Speaker's speech was far from any oratory, but was as plain (though good matter) as any thing could be, and void of elocution.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• eloquence
• rhetoric