noun · verb · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/ɒˈɹeɪʃən/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ɔɹˈeɪʃən/
rhymes with -eɪʃən
CMU ARPABET:AO0 R EY1 SH AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A formal, often ceremonial speech.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
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.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A lengthy speech or argument in a private setting.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: humorous
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A specific form of short, solemn prayer said by the president of the liturgical celebration on behalf of the people.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: Catholicism, Christianity
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
verb
Meaning 4
To deliver an oration; to speak.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
1633, John Donne (attributed translator), The Auncient History of the Septuagint. Written in Greeke, by Aristeus 1900. yeares since, London, p. 80, cited in Henry Todd, A Dictionary of the English Language, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1818, Volume 3, They gave answers with great sufficiency touching all difficulties concerning their own law, and had marvellous promptitude both for orationing and giving judgement.
1764, Samuel Foote, The Mayor of Garratt, Act II, in The Dramatic Works of Samuel Foote, Dublin: S. Price et al., 1778, Volume 1, p. 286, [...] Master Primmer is the man for my money; a man of learning; that can lay down the law: why, adzooks, he is wise enough to puzzle the parson: and then, how you have heard him oration at the Adam and Eve of a Saturday night, about Russia and Prussia [...]
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
an instance of oratory
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
he delivered an oration on the decline of family values
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: oratory
Narrower terms: peroration
History
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin ōrātiō, ōrātiōnem, from ōrō (“to orate”) + -tiō (“action (nominalizer)”). Cognate with and doublet of orison.
Across languages
Translations
16 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
خُطْبَة
(ḵuṭba)
— formal speech
Bulgarian:
тържествена реч
(tǎržestvena reč)
— formal speech
Dutch:
redevoering
— formal speech
Finnish:
juhlapuhe
— formal speech
French:
oraison
— formal speech
German:
Ansprache
— formal speech
German:
Rede
— formal speech
Indonesian:
orasi
— formal speech
Korean:
연설
(yeonseol)
— formal speech
Latin:
ōrātiō
— formal speech
Malay:
pengucapan
— formal speech
Polish:
oracja
— formal speech
Welsh:
araith
— formal speech
French:
oraison
— lengthy speech in a private setting
