Vates

In modern English, the nouns vates (/ˈveɪtiːz/) and ovate (UK: /ˈɒvət, ˈoʊveɪt/, US: /ˈoʊveɪt/), are used as technical terms for ancient Celtic bards, prophets and philosophers. The terms correspond to a Proto-Celtic word which can be reconstructed as *wātis.^[1] They are sometimes also used as English equivalents to later Celtic terms such as Irish fáith "prophet, seer".

^ Bernhard Maier, Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture, trans. by Cyril Edwards (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1997), p. 278 [s.v. vates] [first published as Lexikon der keltischen Religion und Kultur (Stuttgart: Kröner, 1994).

[:0-1] Bernhard Maier, Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture, trans. by Cyril Edwards (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1997), p. 278 [s.v. vates] [first published as Lexikon der keltischen Religion und Kultur (Stuttgart: Kröner, 1994).

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