oratory Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun addressing an audience formally (usually a long and rhetorical address and often pompous)
    • he loved the sound of his own oratory

WordNet

Or"a*to*ry noun
Etymology
OE. oratorie, fr. L. oratorium, fr. oratorius of praying, of an orator: cf. F. oratoire. See Orator, Oral, and cf. Oratorio.
Wordforms
plural Oratories
Definitions
  1. A place of orisons, or prayer; especially, a chapel or small room set apart for private devotions.
    An oratory [temple] . . . in worship of Dian. Chaucer.
    Do not omit thy prayers for want of a good oratory, or place to pray in. Jer. Taylor.
Or"a*to*ry noun
Etymology
L. oratoria (sc. ars) the oratorical art.
Definitions
  1. The art of an orator; the art of public speaking in an eloquent or effective manner; the exercise of rhetorical skill in oral discourse; eloquence. "The oratory of Greece and Rome." Milton.
    When a world of men Could not prevail with all their oratory. Shak.

Webster 1913