soothsayer

English

Alternative forms

southsayer

Etymology

From Middle English sothsaier, zothziggere, by surface analysis, sooth (“truth”) +‎ sayer.

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsuθˌseɪɚ/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsuːθˌseɪə/
Audio (US) (file)

Noun

soothsayer (plural soothsayers)

One who attempts to predict the future, using magic, intuition or intelligence; a diviner.
- 1951 March, John W. Cline, “The Future of Medicine”, in Northwest Medicine, volume 50, number 3, Portland, Ore.: Northwest Medical Publishing Association, page 165:
  It is a great pleasure to be with you today and to speak to you concerning the future of medicine. In so doing, I do not wish to pose as a soothsayer or crystal gazer.
- 1988, Shoshana Zuboff, In the Age of the Smart Machine, New York: Basic Books, page 7:
  The past twenty years have seen their share of soothsayers ready to predict with conviction one extreme or another of the alternative futures I have presented.
A mantis (Mantodea spp.)
(obsolete) One who tells the truth; a truthful person.
A double dart moth (Graphiphora augur).

Related terms

soothsay

Translations

one who predicts the future

Arabic: عَرَّاف m (ʕarrāf), بَصّار m (baṣṣār), مُتَنبِّئ m, مُتَكَهِّن m (mutakahhin)
Armenian: գուշակ (hy) (gušak)
Asturian: adivín (ast), vidente (ast)
Belarusian: вяшчу́н m (vjaščún), праро́к m (prarók), празо́рлівец m (prazórlivjec), прадказа́льнік m (pradkazálʹnik)
Breton: profed m, divinour m, diviner (br) m
Bulgarian: предсказател m (predskazatel), гадател (bg) m (gadatel)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 預言家／预言家 (zh) (yùyánjiā), 算命家 (zh) (suànmìngjiā)
Czech: věštec (cs) m
Danish: spåmand c, seer (da) c
Dutch: waarzegger (nl) m, waarzegster (nl) f, wittiger (nl) m, toekomstvoorspeller f, toekomstvoorspelster f, profeet (nl) m
Finnish: ennustaja (fi)
French: prophète (fr) m, prophétesse (fr) f, devin (fr) m
Galician: adiviño m, agoireiro m
German: Seher (de) m, Seherin (de) f, Wahrsager (de) m, Wahrsagerin (de) f, Zeichendeuter m, Spökenkieker (de) m, Hellseher (de) m
Greek: μάντις (el) (mántis)
Ancient: μάντις m (mántis), χρησμῳδός m (khrēsmōidós)
Hungarian: jós (hu)
Icelandic: spámaður m (male), spákona f (female)
Irish: fáistineach m, fáidh m, fáidheadóir m, mathmharc m, fear feasa m, bean feasa f
Italian: indovino (it) m, indovina (it) f
Japanese: 占い師 (ja) (うらないし, uranaishi)
Kikuyu: mũragũri class 1
Korean: 점쟁이 (ko) (jeomjaeng'i)
Latin: vātēs m or f, python m, pythonissa f
Macedonian: претска́жувач m (pretskážuvač), га́талец m (gátalec)
Manx: faaishnagh f, fallogyssagh, guess
Norwegian:
Bokmål: spåmann m (male), spåkone m or f (female)

Nynorsk: spåmann m (male), spåkone f (female)
Old English: spæwīfe f
Old Norse: spákona f
Plautdietsch: Woasaja m
Polish: wieszcz (pl) m, prorok (pl) m, wieszczek (pl) m
Portuguese: adivinho (pt) m, adivinha (pt) f
Russian: проро́к (ru) m (prorók), предсказа́тель (ru) m (predskazátelʹ), предсказа́тельница (ru) f (predskazátelʹnica), прови́дец (ru) m (provídec), прови́дица (ru) f (provídica), прорица́тель (ru) m (proricátelʹ), прорица́тельница (ru) f (proricátelʹnica), вещу́н (ru) m (veščún), вещу́нья (ru) f (veščúnʹja)
Scots: wizard, witter-wife (female), spaer, weird-man, forteller, foreteller, saga, suthesayer, suth sayar, suithsayer, suithsayar, soothsayer
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: гатар m, га̀тара f

Roman: gatar (sh) m, gàtara (sh) f
Slovak: veštec m
Slovene: vedež m, prorok m
Spanish: adivino (es) m, adivina (es) f
Swedish: siare (sv) c (male), sierska (sv) c (female), spåman (sv) c (male), spåkvinna (sv) c (female)
Turkish: falcı (tr), kâhin (tr)
Ukrainian: віщу́н m (viščún), проро́к (uk) m (prorók), прови́дець (uk) m (provýdecʹ), прові́сник m (provísnyk)
Welsh: daroganwr m, daroganwraig f

mantis or rearhorse — see mantis

one who tells the truth

Arabic: كاهِن m (kāhin)
Finnish: totuudenpuhuja
Scots: suthesayer, suth sayar, suithsayer, suithsayar, soothsayer