Foresayer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who predicts or tells in advance what will happen, often by supernatural or prophetic means
2. Someone who foretells events before they occur, especially through prophecy or divination
3. One who speaks beforehand about what is going to come to pass, typically claiming prophetic insight

Etymology: A foresayer is simply someone who foretells, formed in Old English from "fore," meaning "before," and "sayer," one who says. The pattern is ancient and transparent: "foresee," "foretell," and "forewarn" all share the same prefix, and "sayer" has been a plain agent noun since the Middle English period. The word is far older than most of its relatives in the "fore-" family. Its roots run back to the Old English "foresecgan," "to predict," which combined "for-" in the sense of "before" with "secgan," "to say," the same verb that gave modern English "say." So the word is essentially a compound of two very old Germanic elements rather than a later coinage. Because the compound is so transparent, the word has rarely attracted much attention, and it has never acquired a secondary sense. It has stayed close to its literal meaning of one who says in advance what will happen.