vaticinate

[vuh-tis-uh-neyt]

verb (used with or without object)

vaticinated, vaticinating 

1. to prophesy.

vaticinate

/ vəˈtɪsɪnəl, ˌvætɪsɪˈneɪʃən, vəˈtɪsɪˌneɪt /

verb

1. rare,  to foretell; prophesy

Other Word Forms

• vaticinator noun
• vaticinal adjective
• vaticination noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of vaticinate¹

First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin vāticinātus (past participle of vāticinārī “to prophesy”), equivalent to vāti- (stem of vātēs “seer”) + -cin- (combining form of canere “to sing, prophesy”) + -ātus -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of vaticinate¹

C17: from Latin vāticinārī from vātēs prophet + canere to foretell

Example Sentences

What the end might be he could not pretend to vaticinate, but "El Pretendiente" would never reign in Madrid.

From Project Gutenberg

I have been occasionally struck at the Jeremiads of honest George Withers, the vaticinating poet of our civil wars: some of his works afford many solemn predictions.

From Project Gutenberg

Which that it will certainly happen if you do not prevent it by your votes, I most confidently predict and vaticinate.

From Project Gutenberg

Catherine de Medicis brought Henry IV., then a child, to old Nostradamus, whom antiquaries esteem more for his chronicle of Provence than his vaticinating powers.

From Project Gutenberg

You enquire after Dante's Prophecy: I have not done more than six hundred lines, but will vaticinate at leisure.

From Project Gutenberg