oracle

noun

1. A shrine dedicated to some prophetic deity.

   “The oracles are dumb; / No voice or hideous hum / Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving.”

2. A person such as a priest through whom the deity is supposed to respond with prophecy or advice.
3. A prophetic response, often enigmatic or allegorical, so given.

   “The several oracles included in this haftarah presumably were uttered at different times to the people in exile, presenting diverse themes and using distinct styles.”

4. (archaic, figuratively)Something said that must come true or cannot be countermanded; an inexorable command or declaration.

   “Fight all couragiouſly and be you kings, I ſpeake it, and my words are oracles.”

   “Shee ſtiles her ſelfe their Chiefe, and ſweares ſhee will command; / And, what-ſo-ere ſhee ſaith, for Oracles muſt ſtand.”

5. A person considered to be a source of wisdom.

   “a literary oracle”

   “oracles of mode”

   “The country rectors […] thought him an oracle on points of learning.”

6. A wise sentence or decision of great authority.
7. A fortune-teller.

   “"Madame de l'Hôpital has been quite la fée bienfaisante" said Lauzun, who, like others, had been consulting the oracle. "I am bewildered by my future good fortune. I quite anticipate being married, if it is to bring me all that she predicts."”

8. One who communicates a divine command; an angel; a prophet.

   “God hath now sent his living oracle / Into the world to teach his final will.”

9. (Jewish, historical)The sanctuary, or most holy place in the temple; also, the temple itself.

   “And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.”

   “Siloa's brook, that flow'd / Fast by the oracle of God.”

10. A theoretical entity capable of answering some collection of questions.

    “Thus, an oracle machine (which enacts an oracle algorithm) would be like an ordinary Turing machine, except that adjoined to its ordinary computational operations would be another operation: ‘Call in the oracle and ask it whether C_q(n) stops; […]”

11. A third-party service that provides smart contracts with information from the outside world.

    “For example, an oracle may send temperature data reported by the National Weather Service or report the daily LIBOR rate to a smart contract.”

verb

1. (obsolete)To utter oracles or prophecies.

   “But this thy glory shall be soon retrench'd; No more shalt thou by oracling abuse The Gentiles; henceforth Oracles are ceast”

   “Primarily seen as a publicity vehicle for late-year releases, the awards show and its promoters have lately made pretensions to Oscar oracling: Jamie Foxx won the “breakthrough actor of the year” prize for “Ray” in 2004, after all, and Paul Haggis and his ensemble cast were honored for “Crash” four months before it won best picture.”

name

1. A database management system (and its associated software) developed by the Oracle Corporation