prognosticator

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *per-der.?

Proto-Indo-European *per-der.?

Proto-Indo-European *pér

Proto-Indo-European *-o

Proto-Indo-European *próder.

Ancient Greek πρό (pró)

Ancient Greek προ- (pro-)

Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-

Proto-Indo-European *-tis

Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃tisder.

Ancient Greek γνῶσις (gnôsis)

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Ancient Greek -σῐς (-sĭs)

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Ancient Greek -κός (-kós)

?

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Ancient Greek -τος (-tos)

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Ancient Greek -κός (-kós)

?

Ancient Greek -τῐκός (-tĭkós)

Ancient Greek γνωστῐκός (gnōstĭkós)

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Ancient Greek προ- (pro-)

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Ancient Greek γνῶσῐς (gnôsĭs)

Ancient Greek πρόγνωσῐς (prógnōsĭs)

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Ancient Greek -τῐκός (-tĭkós)

Ancient Greek προγνωστῐκός (prognōstĭkós)der.

Medieval Latin prognosticus

Proto-Italic *-āzi

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Latin -ereinflu.

Latin -āre

Medieval Latin prognosticareder.

English prognosticate

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Latin -ātor

Old French -eorbor.

Middle English -our

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Latin -torlbor.

English -or

English prognosticator

From prognosticate + -or.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɹɒɡˈnɒstɪkeɪtə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

prognosticator (plural prognosticators)

1. One who prognosticates or makes predictions; one who forecasts or guesses.

   Synonym: prognosticant

   Plenty of prognosticators try to forecast the ups and downs of the market.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 47:13:

     Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels: let now the astrologers, the starre-gazers, the monethly prognosticators stand vp, and saue thee from these things that shall come vpon thee.

   • 2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, “Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, in The A.V. Club‎^[1], archived from the original on 6 August 2020:

     When the staccato, Neptunes-ian single “Boyfriend” was released in March, musical prognosticators were quick to peg the album it portended, Believe, as Justin Bieber’s Justified, a grown-and-sexy, R&B-centric departure that evolved millennial teenybopper Justin Timberlake into one of the unifying pop-music figures of the aughts.

   • 2021 May 29, Ross Douthat, “Why the Lab Leak Theory Matters”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     On Long Bets, a website where prognosticators test their mettle by playing for real (or at least proceeds-donated-to-charity) stakes, there is an open bet between the British astrophysicist Martin Rees, a noted worrier over apocalyptic possibilities, and Harvard University’s Steven Pinker, famous for his vaulting optimism.