English

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.

Derived terms

• sacer vates

Translations

Anagrams

• stave
• Vesta

Latin

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

Inflection

Third declension i-stem.

Derived terms

• vāticinor

Descendants

• English: vates
• Portuguese: vate

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)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “vates”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill

Latvian

Noun

vates f

1. genitive singular form of vate

Volapük

Noun

vates

1. dative plural of vat