Orature
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The oral equivalent of literature: a collection of traditional folk songs, stories, etc., that is communicated orally rather than in writing. countable, uncountable
"It is because of this that Mr Pio Zirimu, a Ugandan linguist and literary critic, has coined the word ‘orature’."
- 2 Variant of oratour (“a small room or chapel used for prayer and worship, or for private study; an oratory”). Scotland, alt-of, alternative, archaic
"This bishop was ane wyse and godlie man, and answered the king in this maner, as after follows, saying, “Sir, I beseech your Grace, that ye take a little meat to refresh you, and I will passe to my orature and pray to God for you, and the commonwealth of this realme and cuntrie.[”]"
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"It is because of this that Mr Pio Zirimu, a Ugandan linguist and literary critic, has coined the word ‘orature’."
Etymology
Blend of oral + literature, said to have been coined by the Ugandan linguist and literary theorist Pio Zirimu (died 1977): see the 1972 quotation.
From Scots oratur, orature, a variant of oratour, oritour, from Middle English oritore, a variant of ōrātōrī, ōrātōrīe (“room or other place for prayer or private study; chapel, church, temple; shrine”), from Old French oratur, orator, oratore, oratori, oratour (modern French oratoire (“oratory; oratorical”)), from Latin ōrātōrium, from ōrātōrius (“oratorical”), from ōrātor (“orator, speaker”) (from ōrō (“to deliver a speech, orate”), from ōs (“mouth”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óh₃s (“mouth”)) + -ius (suffix forming adjectives from nouns).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.