Vates
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈveɪtiz/
Origin
From Latin vÄtÄ“s, from Proto-Indo-European *wÄt-; cognate with Proto-Celtic *wÄtis ("seer") (Gaulish ουατεις, Old Irish fáith, Welsh gwawd) and Proto-Germanic *wÅd- ("mad") (Old English wÅd ("mad, frenzied"), Gothic ð…ð‰ðŒ¸ðƒ (woþs, "possessed, mad"), Old High German wuot ("mad, madness").
Full definition of vates
Noun
vates
- A poet or bard who is divinely inspired.
- 1999, Dennis Richard Danielson, The Cambridge Companion to Milton, Cambridge University Press, page 57 http://books.google.com/books?id=BaiZA_c8SNEC&pg=PA57&dq=vates+poet&lr=lang_en&as_brr=3&as_pt=ALLTYPES: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.