Prognosticator

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /pɹɒɡˈnɒstɪkeɪtə(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. A person who makes predictions about future events based on analysis, intuition, or claimed supernatural knowledge
2. someone who forecasts what will happen in the future by studying signs, patterns, or using claimed mystical insight
3. a person skilled at predicting outcomes or events by interpreting evidence, omens, or possessing purported supernatural foresight

Etymology: "Prognosticator" is built from the Ancient Greek "prognōstikos," meaning "good at knowing beforehand," formed from "pro-" ("before") and "gnōsis" ("knowledge"). The Greek "gnōsis" is the same root that gives English "diagnosis" and "agnostic," so the word shares its core with a family of terms about knowing. Greek speakers used "prognōsis" for the forecasting of a disease's course, and that medical sense of foretelling carried over into the Latin "prognosticus." The word reached English by way of Medieval Latin "prognosticare," meaning "to foretell," which English adopted as "prognosticate." The agent ending "-or" was then added to that verb to name a person who makes such predictions. In other words, "prognosticator" is a fairly late English formation, built on a verb that had already been shaped by Latin and Greek.

Synonyms: forecaster, predictor, soothsayer

Antonyms: ignoramus, unaware