Meanings
nounprophetess (plural prophetesses)
plural prophetesses
- A female prophet.
What made matters worse was that Montanus was accompanied by female prophetesses who spoke in states of ecstasy.
2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 138
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*per-der.?
- Proto-Indo-European*pér
- Proto-Indo-European*pró
- Ancient Greekπρό (pró)
- Ancient Greekπρο- (pro-)
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
- Ancient Greekφημί (phēmí)
- Ancient Greekπροφήτης (prophḗtēs)
- Latinprophēta
- Latinprophētissa
- Old Frenchprophetesse
- Middle Englishprophetesse
- Englishprophetess
From Middle English prophetesse, from Old French prophetesse, from Late Latin prophetissa. By surface analysis, prophet + -ess.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek προφῆτις
- προφῆτις (prophêtis)female prophet
Bulgarian проро́чица
- проро́чица (proróčica)female prophet
Catalan profetessa
- profetessafemale prophet
Czech věštkyně, prorokyně
- věštkyněfemale prophet
- prorokyněfemale prophet
Danish profetinde
- profetindefemale prophet
Esperanto profetino
- profetinofemale prophet
Finnish naisprofeetta, profeetta
- naisprofeettafemale prophet
- profeettafemale prophet
French prophétesse
- prophétessefemale prophet
German Prophetin, Weissagerin
- Prophetinfemale prophet
- Weissagerinfemale prophet
Hungarian prófétanő
- prófétanőfemale prophet
Irish banfháidh, fáidhbhean
- banfháidhfemale prophet
- fáidhbheanfemale prophet
Italian profetessa
- profetessafemale prophet
Japanese 女預言者
- 女預言者 (onna yogensha)female prophet
Latin prophētissa, prophētis
- prophētissafemale prophet
- prophētisfemale prophet
- vāticinātrīxfemale prophet
Norwegian Bokmål profetinne, spåkone
- profetinnefemale prophet
- spåkonefemale prophet
Polish prorokini, wieszczka
- prorokinifemale prophet
- wieszczkafemale prophet
Portuguese profetisa
- profetisafemale prophet
Romanian profetă
- profetăfemale prophet
Russian проро́чица, предсказа́тельница
- проро́чица (proróčica)female prophet
- предсказа́тельница (predskazátelʹnica)female prophet
Scottish Gaelic ban-fhàidh
- ban-fhàidhfemale prophet
Slovak prorokyňa
- prorokyňafemale prophet
Spanish profetisa
- profetisafemale prophet
Swedish profetissa, sierska
- profetissafemale prophet
- sierskafemale prophet
Ukrainian проро́чиця
- проро́чиця (proróčycja)female prophet
Welsh proffwydes
- proffwydesfemale prophet
Yiddish נבֿיאה
- נבֿיאה (neviye)female prophet
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
prophetess. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prophetess
MLA
“prophetess.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prophetess. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prophetess,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prophetess.
Source: prophetess on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.