English → Latin
“soothsayer” in Latin
vātēsseer, soothsayer, diviner, prophet, prophetess; poet, poetess, bard; oracledīvīnōto foresee, foretell, divine; to prophesy; to guessvāticinorto prophesy, foretell; to sing, celebrate (as a poet); to rave, rant, spout foolishnessfātidicuspropheticfātiloquuspropheticsortilegusthat predicts the future; (relational) fortune-telling, soothsayingharuspexdiviner who reads from the intestines of sacrificial animals; one who practices haruspicyauguraugur (priest, diviner, or soothsayer, one who foretold the future in part by interpreting the song and flight of birds)
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
soothsayer
vates: divinans (an inspired prophet; Cic.): vaticinans (Ov.; very rare = vates): fatidicus (one who foretells the destiny of man; Cic.): fatiloquus (poetical = fatidicus): sortilegus (one who divines by lots; Cic.): haruspex (one who foretells events from the appearance of the entrails of victims): augur (one who foretells from the flight of birds): feminine, vates: mulier fatidica, fatiloqua: interpres divum (Liv.): saga (Cic.).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for soothsayer?
- The usual Latin words for “soothsayer” are vātēs, dīvīnō, vāticinor; also fātidicus, fātiloquus, sortilegus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.