vates

Etymology

From Latin vātēs, from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂t- (“excited, possessed”); cognate with Proto-Celtic *wātis (“seer”) (Gaulish ουατεις, Old Irish fáith, Welsh gwawd) and Proto-Germanic *wōd- (“mad”) (Old English wōd (“mad, frenzied”), Gothic 𐍅𐍉𐌳𐍃 (wōds, “possessed, mad”), Old High German wuot (“mad, madness”). More at wood (“crazy, mad, insane”) and wode.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈveɪtiz/

Noun

vates

1. A poet or bard who is divinely inspired.
   • 1999, Dennis Richard Danielson, The Cambridge Companion to Milton, Cambridge University Press, page 57 :

     The volume is haunted by the death of the vates (poet-prophet) Orpheus, who failed to revive Eurydice from death and was then torn apart by maenads.

Anagrams

• Avest., Sveta, Vesta, evats, stave, vesta

Alternative forms

• vātis

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *weh₂t-i- (“seer”), from *weh₂t- (“to be excited”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈwaː.teːs/

Noun

vātēs m (genitive vātis); third declension

1. seer, soothsayer, prophet
2. poet, poetess
3. oracle

References

• vates in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• vates in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• vates in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• vates in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill

Noun

vates f

1. genitive singular form of vate

Noun

vates m pl

1. plural of vate

Noun

vates

1. dative plural of vat