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# prophecy

«prophecy» in Mova's school dictionary: **A statement that something will happen in the future…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a prophecy, prophecies)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A statement that something will happen in the future, especially one made by someone believed to have special knowledge: «The witch's prophecy came true.» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prophecy/#m1)

2) (Bible, church) A message that Christians and Jews believe comes from God, given through a prophet, sometimes about the future and often about how people should live. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prophecy/#m2)

3) The power or act of saying what will happen in the future. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prophecy/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In stories and myths prophecies drive the plot (a chosen one, a curse, a hero's fate). In religious education, the books of the prophets in the Bible contain prophecies; Christians believe some Old Testament prophecies point to Jesus. In science we make «predictions» with evidence, not prophecies. Phrases: «a prophecy came true», «fulfil a prophecy», «self-fulfilling prophecy».

### examples

- The old prophecy said a girl from the village would save the kingdom. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prophecy/#x1)
- The prophecy came true at the end of the book. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prophecy/#x2)
- Isaiah's prophecies are read in church at Christmas. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prophecy/#x3)
- Christians believe Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the prophets. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prophecy/#x4)
- Saying «I'll fail» can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prophecy/#x5)
- The fortune teller's prophecy was just a guess. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prophecy/#x6)
- In the myth, the king tried to escape the prophecy but could not. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prophecy/#x7)
- So his mother’s prophecy had come true, after all. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prophecy/#x8)

### note

Noun «prophecy» (ends -cy, sounds like «see») versus verb «prophesy» (ends -sy, sounds like «sigh»): the prophet prophesied a prophecy. Plural: prophecies. A self-fulfilling prophecy comes true because people believe it. A scientific prediction is based on evidence and can be tested.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «prophecy» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prophecy/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.