fatiloquent

English

WOTD – 21 August 2011

Etymology

From Latin fatiloquus, from fatum (“fate”) + ultimately loqui (“speak”) (modeled on eloquent and other such words).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /feɪˈtɪləkwənt/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

Adjective

fatiloquent (not comparable)

1. prophetic; speaking of fate.
   • 1993, Will Self, My Idea of Fun‎^[1], Grove Press, published 2005, →ISBN, page 37:

     He paused, adopting a pensive mien which befitted this fatiloquent observation, and I was transfixed by the thick, almost Neanderthal ridges of bone that took the place of eyebrows on his mondial head.

Related terms

• fatiloquist

Translations

prophetic, speaking of fate

• Finnish: enteellinen (fi)
• Russian: пророческий (ru) (proročeskij)
• Spanish: profético (es)