sibyl

Definition

A pagan female oracle or prophetess, especially the Cumaean sibyl.

Etymology

From Latin Sibylla, from Ancient Greek Σίβυλλα (Síbulla).

Example Sentences

• "A Sybill that had numbred in the world The Sun to courſe, two hundred compaſſes, In her Prophetticke furie ſow'd the Worke:"
• ""Are you very anxious," asked he, "to consult the sibyl?" "Nay," replied Francesea; "I want faith." "You will," replied he, "nevertheless be amused with Madame de I'Hôpital's tact; she knows enough of the history of the individuals around to give a shrewd guess at the favourite fantasy of each, and that it will be successful is the summing up of her prophecy. She tells each what he wishes, and so obtains an easy belief.""
• "`Nay, wait, Kallikrates,' said Ayesha, who, standing with the lamp raised above her head, flooding with its light her own rich beauty and the cold wonder of the death-clothed form upon the bier, resembled an inspired Sibyl rather than a woman, as she rolled out her majestic sentences with a grandeur and a freedom of utterance which I am, alas! quite unable to reproduce."