Orating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Speaking aloud in a formal and structured way to an audience, often with persuasive intent
2. The act of publicly presenting a prepared speech to convey ideas or influence listeners
3. Expressing thoughts through a formal discourse intended to inform or motivate a group

Etymology: "Orating" is the present participle of "orate", a verb that in English is partly borrowed directly from Latin "ōrātus", the past participle of "ōrō", meaning "to speak" or, in some uses, "to pray". The verb may also have arisen as a back-formation from "oration", which comes from Latin "ōrātiō", "speech" or "discourse". Either way, the root is the Latin verb for speaking, and the English word keeps that plain sense of addressing listeners. The "-ate" ending is a common verb-forming suffix in English, which explains the familiar shape of the word. The same root gives us "oration", "orator" and "oratory", so the family of words all leads back to a single Latin idea: the act of speaking in public.

Synonyms: speaking, addressing, lecturing

Antonyms: silencing, mumbling