oraclert (orakler)

One who utters oracles; the giver of an oracle or oracular response. Pyrrhus, whom the Delphian Oracler Deluded by his double-meaning Measures. Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 6. oracular (ō-rak'ū-lär), a . [ oracular is , oraculum , oracle: see oracle.] 1. Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of an oracle or oracles. Hence-( a ) Obscure or ambiguous like the oracles of pagan deities. (b) Positive; authoritative; not to be gainsaid; wise beyond contradiction. O that, whiles we sweate and bleede for the maintenance of these oracular truths, wee could bee perswaded to remit of our heat in the pursuit of opinions. Bp. Hall, The Reconciler, Ded. (c) Wise as an oracle; expre ing opinions with the mysteriousne or dogmatism of an oracle. They have something venerable and oracular in that unadorned gravity and shortne in the expre ion. Pope . 2. Of or pertaining to one po e ing the power of delivering oracular or divine me ages; po e ing the power of uttering oracles: as, an oracular tongue. His gestures did obey The oracular mind that made his features glow. Shelley, Revolt of Islam, i. 59. Where, in his own oracular abode, Dwelt visibly the light-creating God. Cowper , Truth, 1. 389. hold out long. Bacon , Simulation and Di imulation (ed. 1887). Urim and Thummim, those oraculous gems On Aaron's breast. Milton , P. R., iii. 14. oraculouslyt (ō-rak'ū-lus-li), adv . Same as oracularly . The genius of your ble ings hath instructed Your tongue oraculously . IMG:content-1783.png:[blocks in formation] a storm. oraisont, n. An obsolete form of orison . oral (o'ral), a . [= F. oral = Sp. Pg. oral = It. orale , oral is , of the mouth, os (or-), the mouth, Skt. asya , the mouth.] 1. Of or pertaining to the mouth or ingestive opening: as, the oral orifice; oral surgery; oral gest a- tion.-2. Uttered by the mouth or in words; spoken, not written: as, oral traditions; oral testimony; oral law. Savage rusticity is reclaimed by oral admonition alone. Goldsmith, Citizen of the World, lxxv. 4136 The oral language of China has continued the same that it is now for thirty centuries. J. F. Clarke , Ten Great Religions, i. 2. 3. Using or concerned with speech only, and not writing; communicating instruction, etc., by word of mouth; viva voce. [Rare.] The influence of simply Oral Teachers rests chiefly in the hearts and minds of the Taught. Ascham, The Scholemaster, p. 6. 4. In zoöl., situated on the same part or side of the body as the mouth: opposed to aboral or anal.-Oral arms, in acalephs, arm-like appendages of the wall of the stomach, which usually projects into folded membranes, between which the mouth is situated. - Oral aspect. See ambulacral aspect, under ambulacral. - Oral cavity, in haustellate insects, the hollow on the lower surface of the head, from which the proboscis or sucking mouth protrudes. - Oral contract, disk, evidence, gestation, etc. See the nouns. - Oral pleading, in law, pleading by word of mouth in presence of the judges: superseded by written pleading in the reign of Edward III. Oral skeleton, in echinoderms, the whole dentary apparatus or hard parts about the mouth. See lantern of Aristotle , under lantern. - Oral valves, in crinoids, the proce es of the per i some about the mouth, projecting over the orifice and capable of closing it by coming together like valves. - Oral whiff, a whiff heard during expiration from the open mouth, following the cardiac rhythm. It is developed in health by exertion, and also appears during complete rest in cases of thoracic aneurism, when it may be double. When thus appearing during rest, it is of diagnostic value, and is called Drummond's whiff.