Oration

/ɒˈɹeɪʃən/ · noun

Meaning

A formal, often ceremonial speech..

Definitions by Sense

1. A formal, often ceremonial speech.
2. (humorous) A lengthy speech or argument in a private setting.
3. (Catholicism) A specific form of short, solemn prayer said by the president of the liturgical celebration on behalf of the people.
4. To deliver an oration; to speak.

Example Sentences

a funeral oration; an impassioned oration; to make / deliver / pronounce an oration

1752, Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, No. 207, 10 March, 1752, in Volume 6, London: J. Payne and J. Bouquet, 1752, p. 279, The masters of rhetorick direct, that the most forcible arguments be produced in the latter part of an oration, lest they should be effaced or perplexed by supervenient images.

[…] there is ſuch confuſion in my powers, / As after ſome Oration fairely ſpoke / By a beloued Prince, there doth appeare / Among the buzzing pleaſed multitude.

And vpon a ſet day Herod arayed in royall apparell, ſate vpon his throne, and made an Oration vnto them.

[…] when the provinces again displayed their old flags (proscribed in Guzman Bento’s time) there was another of those great orations, when Don José greeted these old emblems of the war of Independence, brought out again in the name of new Ideals.

My Landlord was likewiſe beginning his Oration to Jones, but was preſently interrupted by that generous Youth, who ſhook him heartily by the Hand; and aſſured him of entire Forgiveneſs […]

Sally bustled off to set on the kettle for tea, and felt half ashamed, in the quiet of the kitchen, to think of the oration she had made in the parlour.

The supper things cleared away, Gerald resumed his oration, but with little satisfaction to himself and none at all to his audience.

Synonyms for oration

Antonyms for oration

Related Words

Word Forms

• orations
• orationing
• orationed

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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