revelationn.
/ˌrɛvəˈleɪʃn/, U.S. /ˌrɛvəˈleɪʃ(ə)n/ 1.
a. The disclosure or communication of knowledge, instructions, etc., by divine or supernatural means.
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society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > inspiration or revelation > [noun]
lightOE
lightingOE
inspiration1303
illuminationsc1340
inyettingc1340
revelationc1384
oraclec1425
revealingc1429
informationc1450
infusionc1450
illustrationc1480
gospel1481
aspirationc1534
illuminating1561
afflation1576
entheos1594
enthusiasm1595
flame-light1611
illapse1614
inspirement1616
spiration1629
respirationa1631
irradiation1631
income1647
afflatus1649
theopneustian1660
entheasm1752
prana1785
inflation1835
theopneusty1847
inflatusa1861
theopneustia1894
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Rom. xvi. 25 To him that is myȝty for to conferme ȝou by my gospel and preching of Jhesu Crist, vp the revelacioun [L. revelationem] of mysterie holdun stille..in tymes euerlastynge..is..honour and glorie.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) viii. 49 (MED) Metodre seith to his matiere, As he be revelacion It hadde upon avision.
a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 441 (MED) Hyt was shewyd pryuyly To iosep..Þat with þe chyld þey shulde fle To egypt..þys ys clepyd reuelacyun, To shewe byfore what ys to doun.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1872) IV. 343 (MED) Seynte Iohn Baptiste schewede his hedde by reuelacion to ij monkes.
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) lxxxviii. 19 Thou spak in visyon, that is, in pryue reuelacioun til prophetis.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. clxxxxii. f. cxiiiiv Whan he hadde vnderstandynge, of the dethe of this Edwyn by Reuelacyon or otherwyse, He made his speciall prayer.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. lvv He sayd, how he had all thinges shewed him by reuelation.
1612 B. Jonson Alchemist iii. ii. sig. Gv A man, by reuelation, That hath a competent knowledge of the Truth. View more context for this quotation
1686 J. Scott Christian Life: Pt. II II. vii. 612 The Gift of Revelation..seems to have been continued no longer than till the whole New Testament was revealed.
1725 I. Watts Logick ii. v. §3 Divine Revelation must be confirmed by some divine and supernatural Appearances.
1795 W. Paley View Evidences Christianity (ed. 3) II. iii. vii. 384 The object of revelation is to influence human conduct in this life.
a1832 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) II. 692/1 A distinction has frequently been taken between the law of nature and revelation, to which we cannot assent.
1892 J. Tait Mind in Matter (ed. 3) p. v On the supposition of an eternal universe, science would necessarily antagonize Revelation.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 9/2 Aristotelian rationalism..threatened the authority of the Old Testament..the belief in miracles and revelation.
1941 A. C. Bouquet Compar. Relig. x. 207 Religion for the Moslem centres upon Wahj or revelation.
2000 Church Times 7 Apr. 19/4 Only supernaturalist revelation can offer a remedy for the human predicament of knowing good and doing evil, and it offers a vision of what life is for.
b. An instance or experience of this; something disclosed or communicated by divine or supernatural means.
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c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Cor. xii. 7 Lest the greetnesse of reuelaciouns [L. revelationum] enhaunce me in pride, the pricke of fleisch..is ȝouun to me.
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) v. l. 366 Prestes of þe temple tellen þis..That dremes ben þe reuelacions..Of goddes.
a1475 Revelations St. Birgitta (Garrett) (1929) 104 This is a reuelacion sende to..saint Birgitte, in whiche oure lady saint Marye repreueth the pryde of wymmen.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Bi The seruaunt of god Moyses, had moste hye reuelacions and visions.
a1598 R. Rollock Lect. Passion (1616) 418 Away with these fantasticke reuelations of the Anabaptistes.
1643 Sir T. Browne Religio Medici (authorized ed.) 63 I do think that many mysteries ascribed to our own inventions have been the courteous revelations of spirits. View more context for this quotation
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. xxvii. 168 A good Monk..had in the Night-time a Revelation, that the Body was in the top of the Hill.
1727 D. Defoe Syst. Magick i. iii. 62 Magick..was not a Revelation from Hell, made at once to Mankind.
1788 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall V. l. 205 Six legislators..have announced to mankind the six successive revelations of various rites.
1850 R. W. Emerson Swedenborg in Representative Men iii. 139 His revelations destroy their credit by running into detail.
1892 B. F. Westcott Gospel of Life 86 If anything human lies without the scope of a revelation to man, that revelation cannot be final.
1912 Catholic Encycl. XIV. 340/2 Wholesale believers in supernatural apparitions, visions, revelations, which serve no good purpose.
1941 A. C. Bouquet Compar. Relig. vi. 81 He [sc. Zarathustra] retired into the mountains for meditation and..received a revelation.
2007 N.Y. Rev. Bks. Nov. 63/1 The theological doctrine according to which Islam supersedes the previous revelations of Judaism and Christianity.
2. Chiefly with capital initial.
a. In early use chiefly with the. In full the Revelation of St. John the Divine. The last book of the New Testament; the Apocalypse.
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society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > Testament > New Testament > Revelations > [noun]
apocalypseOE
'pocalypseOE
book of privities?c1225
Book of sights1340
revelationc1384
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) (1850) Apoc. p. 681 Heere endith the Apocalips, or Reuelacioun of Seynt Joon the euangelist.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Rev. (heading) The summe of the Reuelacion.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. xxxvjv They call the Bishop of Rome..the whore of Babilon, described in the Reuelation.
c1585 R. Browne Answere to Cartwright 43 In the Reuelation, the twelue Apostles are called the twelue foundations.
a1658 J. Cleveland Wks. (1687) 49 What Scriptures call The Revelation, is most mystical.
1685 R. Baxter Paraphr. New Test. Rev. i. 1 It is eminently call'd the Revelation.
1756 T. Amory Life John Buncle I. 392 The third painting in this series is the subsequent vision, in the 4th and 5th chapters of the Revelation of John the Divine.
a1768 T. Secker Serm. Several Subj. (1771) VI. 69 The Revelation of St. John is accused of Obscurity, and consequently of Uselessness.
1846 Tennyson in Mem. I. 238 There was no more sea, says St. John in Revelation.
1883 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island vi. xxix. 181 One side was blank, for it had been the last leaf; the other contained a verse or two of Revelation.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 905/1 The Anabaptists were great readers of Revelation and of the Epistle of James.
1959 Mag. Fantasy & Sci. Fiction Dec. 91/1 Cooper has had the gall to interpolate this..screed with passages from Ecclesiastes and Revelation.
1996 J. Updike In Beauty of Lilies 473 Jesse's Bible-study sessions had moved from Revelation and the Old Testament prophets..to the Gospels.
b. Usually in plural. Designating other works in which a person's divine revelations are described.
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1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. cclv/2 It is redde in the reuelacions [Fr. reuelacions; L. reuelationibus] of saynt Elysabeth, that..she sawe in a place moche fer fro folk a tombe or a sepulcre enuyronned with moche lyght.
1551 J. Bale Actes Eng. Votaryes: 2nd Pt. f. cxi A crafty knaue, an holye monke, J shulde saye, in the abbeye of Euesham,..wrote a newe Apocalips or boke of reuelacions.
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1953) I. 253 The Revelations of Brigid, and of Katherine, and such She-fathers as those.
1691 A. Gavin Frauds Romish Monks iv. 190 Many of these have themselves Pen'd their own Revelations, as S. Brigit, S. Melchilda, S. Catharine of Sienna, S. Gertrude.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Apocalypse Porphyry..makes mention of the Apocalypses or Revelations of Zoroaster, Zostrian,..&c.
?1768–9 Encycl. Brit. (1771) I. 546/2 The apocryphal books of the New Testament are..several spurious gospels, Acts of the Apostles, and Revelations.
1845 J. Kitto Cycl. Biblical Lit. (1849) II. 628/1 We shall first treat of the apocryphal revelations no longer extant.
1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 179/2 A fragment of the apocryphal Revelations of St. Bartholomew.
1911 Catholic Encycl. X. 276/1 St. Michael also guards the body of Eve, according to the ‘Revelation of Moses’.
1996 J. I. Friedman in R. Voaden Prophets Abroad 100 The illuminations are reserved exclusively for the first pages of individual books of the Revelations [of St Brigit].
c. In plural in sense 2a, now regarded as informal and by some as incorrect.
(a) Without the. More fully Book of Revelations. Also in extended use.
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c1450 (c1400) Bk. Vices & Virtues (Huntington) (1942) 10 (MED) Þe holy apostle seynt Iohn..in þe booke of his reuelaciouns þat is cleped þe Apocalips, seiþ þat he seiȝ a best, [etc.].]
1531 tr. E. Fox et al. Determinations Moste Famous Vniuersities vii. f. 138v If any man shall adde vnto them [sc. the writings of St John], god shall cast vnto hym those plages and vengeances, whiche be wrytten in his boke of reuelations.
1565 J. Jewel Replie Hardinges Answeare i. 12 S. Iohn that wrote the bookes of Apocalyps, or Reuelations, shal come againe with Elias, and Enoch to reproue Antichriste.
1675 W. Cave Antiquitates Apostolicæ 116 in Bp. J. Taylor & W. Cave Antiquitates Christianæ It was about the latter end of Domitian's Reign, (as Irenaeus tells us) that he wrote his Apocalypse or Book of Revelations.
1691 T. P. Blount Ess. 15 The Rhemists in their Annotations upon Revelations the 14th.
?1706 E. Hickeringill Priest-craft: 2nd Pt. ii. 26 I have heard a little Domine or Curate..tell the People from—Revelations.
1791 M. De Fleury Diuine Poems & Ess. Contents Meditations on Revelations xii. 6.
1818 T. L. Peacock Nightmare Abbey i. 19 He would condole with Mr. Glowry,..quote Revelations with Mr. Toobad.
1842 R. I. Wilberforce Rutilius & Lucius 81 In..the book of Revelations, they are called the angels of the Churches.
1898 G. Parker Battle of Strong x He saw..the gracious figure of a girl; and a book of revelations was opened and begun.
1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xi. 115 The text was Revelations, third chapter, second and third verses.
1945 Folk-lore 56 257 Six hundred and sixty-six was the number of the Beast in Revelations.
1991 in B. MacArthur Despatches from Gulf War 191 Our vehicle, named the Whore of Babylon by someone who knew his Book of Revelations, could not keep pace.
(b) With the.In early use it is sometimes difficult to distinguish whether the reference is to the book or to the revelations themselves.
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?1542 R. Taverner On Saynt Andrewes Day Gospels f. xxxiii The reuelacions of saynt Ihon set forth in the boke of the Apocalipse.]
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum at Iohn He treateth mooste of the Deuinitie in his gospell, who also dyd wryte the reuelations.
1643 E. Douglas Star to Wise (title page) Her petition, Shewing cause to have her Book Licensed, Being The Revelations Jnterpretation.
1656 A. Wright Five Serm. 211 Many prophesies are to be fulfilled.., among which that in the Revelations is one.
1672 H. Dodwell Two Lett. Advice i. xxiii. 101 The scandalous licentious person is like the Dragon in the Revelations.
1708 Brit. Apollo 23–25 June They look upon this Passage in the Revelations as their strongest Fort.
1755 T. Amory Mem. Ladies 25 As St. John..expresses it, in the third chapter of the Revelations.
1806 R. Southey in C. C. Southey Life & Corr. R. Southey (1850) III. 34 Reading the Revelations..was my favourite part of the Christian religion.
a1871 A. De Morgan Budget of Paradoxes (1872) 358 For myself,..I am the first Beast in the Revelations.
1934 D. Thomas Let. 2 May (1987) 126 A large abstract, done mainly in furniture varnish, titled from the Revelations: ‘The Star Called Wormwood’.
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society > communication > information > enlightenment > [noun] > one who or that which
revelationc1425
enlightener1582
irradiator1750
eye-opener1833
c1425 (c1400) Prymer (Cambr.) (1895) 33 Liȝt ad [read and] reuelacioun of heþen men, & glorie to þi puple israel.
1815 C. Lloyd tr. A. Vittorio Timoleon ii. iii. 141 I then will be A light, a revelation to thy darkness.
4. The disclosure or exposure by a person of something previously unknown or kept secret; an instance of this; a fact which has been disclosed.
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society > communication > manifestation > disclosure or revelation > [noun]
discoveringa1375
nakeninga1382
bewrayingc1386
detection1471
discoverture?1473
revelationc1485
disclosinga1513
disclosurea1525
disclose1548
overture1548
patefaction1553
displaying1556
discovery1567
unripping1568
revealment1576
discoverment1578
retection1581
unmaskinga1586
unclasping?1592
denudation1593
untrussing1597
uncovering1598
detecting1604
divulging1604
divulgation1610
unvizardinga1628
exposinga1631
divulgement1632
unbowellinga1639
unfolding1646
revealinga1649
unrolling1648
pre-discovery1653
discoverance1664
unshelling1670
development1760
unveilinga1774
disclosal1786
displayment1801
divulgence1851
revelationism1854
unbosoming1910
uncovery1963
c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Gouernaunce of Princis (1993) xxxix. 125 Traist messageris to bere thair messagis..and secretly report again all ansueris—bot any reuelacioun–bot quhare jt efferis.
?1560 Squyr Lowe Degre sig. Eii He made reuelation vnto me That he knewe all your pryuyte.
1601 J. Deacon & J. Walker Summarie Answere to Darel 75 Will you leaue the law, and the testimonies, and trot after a blind and a trothlesse lad for the reuelation of these hidden truthes?
a1680 J. Harrington Horæ Consecratæ (1682) 70 Is the revelation of secrets the greatest expression of friendship?
1707 N. Tate Injur'd Love v. 60 She has promis'd me, The Revelation of some dreadful Secret.
1785 E. K. Mathews Constance IV. xix. 168 She could suppose only, that as had generally been her misfortune, it was a revelation that would give her pain.
1853 E. C. Gaskell Ruth I. iii. 78 There was some one who listened with tender interest to all her little revelations.
1880 J. McCarthy Hist. our Own Times IV. lx. 326 This astounding revelation excited alarm and anger.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 960/2 The revelation of the sufferings of the prisoners was one of the factors that shaped public opinion regarding the South in the Northern States.
1962 A. Sampson Anat. Brit. xxx. 480 He and his board have reacted..to revelations about their monopoly, with the old-fashioned sang-froid of unreconstructed businessmen.
1996 Church Times 13 Dec. 10/3 Their Lordships are..too old (mostly) to be threatened with the revelation of their scandalous secrets to their wives.
5.
a. The disclosure to a person of something not previously apparent; an instance of this; (also) the perception of something not previously seen or understood; a sudden realization; a striking discovery.In earlier use sometimes as an extended use of sense 1.
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society > communication > manifestation > disclosure or revelation > [noun] > a disclosure > striking
revelationa1625
Parousia1941
aha1980
a1625 J. Fletcher Chances ii. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Aaa3v I have got a Revelation will reveale me, An arrant Coxcombe while I live.
1651 J. French tr. J. R. Glauber Descr. New Philos. Furnaces v. 297 Although any one doth think to discover the possibility of Art, and Nature; yet few would be content therewith, being very desirous of all manner of revelation.
1751 T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle II. lix. 61 Enthusiasts, who..disdainfully reject the evidence of reason, and trust to the revelation of their own fancy.
1766 R. Lovett Philos. Ess. i. xi. 122 If this had not been wonderfully revealed to us (for I cannot help calling it a Revelation) we had still been ignorant of any great Strength, Power, or Force in electrical Fire.
1846 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) iii. 22 There had been that in the sad embrace between her and her dying mother, which was at once a revelation and a reproach to him.
1862 H. Spencer First Princ. i. i. §5 20 Be there or be there not any other revelation, we have a veritable revelation in Science.
1920 Glasgow Herald 1 Sept. 6 The demand for a distantly printed issue..was a revelation of the eagerness with which a newspaperless public will snatch at anything conveying a semblance of the news.
1959 J. Kerouac Let. 19 Oct. in Sel. Lett. 1957–69 (1999) 221 Most miraculous of all was the sensational revelation that I've been on the right track with spontaneous never-touch-up poetry of immediate report.
1970 A. Toffler Future Shock xv. 300 This is the ‘a-hah!’ reaction we experience at a moment of revelation, when we finally understand something that has been puzzling us.
1992 H. Mitchell One Man's Garden iv. 84 Still another revelation of the beauty of bulbs came to me..when I saw a woodland garden..covered with thousands of old white-trumpet daffodils.
b. A person who or thing which inspires awe or admiration in a revelatory manner; an unexpectedly excellent person or thing.
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the mind > emotion > excitement > inspiration > [noun] > something (which is) inspired
inspiration1819
revelation1843
1843 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters I. ii. i. vii. 90 A man accustomed to the grace and infinity of nature's foliage, with every vista a cathedral, and every bough a revelation.
1858 B. St. John Montaigne Essayist iii. 19 Even now Italy is a revelation to poets and moralists who come down the southern slope of the Alps for the first time.
1895 Life 12 Dec. 386/2 Eleanor Duse was a revelation. She showed us a suffering woman who did not shriek out her emotions.
1920 P. F. Warner Cricket Reminisc. 156 His keeping to Mr. Spofforth with the 1878 Australian XI. was a revelation.
1996 Guardian 27 Apr. (Weekend Suppl.) 47/5 An omelette made with a handful of mousserons is a revelation.
2005 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 6 Mar. (inside entertainment section) 11/2 Smith is affably charming. He's born for this kind of stuff. James is a revelation.
6. With capital initial. More fully Revelation suitcase. A make of expanding leather suitcase.A proprietary name in the United Kingdom.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > a journey > [noun] > luggage > travelling bag > hand-held
mailc1275
clothesack1393
cloak-bagc1540
portmanteau1553
valance?a1562
pockmanty1575
cap-case1577
cloak-bearer1580
night baga1618
valisea1630
toilet1656
Roger1665
shirt case1823
weekend case1827
carpet-bag1830
holdall1851
handbag1859
suitcase1873
sample case1875
gripsack1877
case1879
grip1879
Gladstone (bag)1882
traveller1895
vanity-case1913
luggage1915
revelation1923
two-suiter1923
overnight bag1925
one-suiter1933
suiter1933
overnight case1934
Samsonite1939
flight bag1943
Pullman1946
grip-bag1958
overnighter1959
carry-on1960
Vuitton1975
go bag1991
1923 Trade Marks Jrnl. 2 May 876 Revelation... Bags, trunks, suitcases,..and similar containers, all being goods made of leather or principally of leather.
1935 G. Greene Basement Room & Other Stories 115 Grains of rice..fell on to his Revelation suitcase.
1964 J. Gardner Liquidator i. 15 The battered multi-labelled tan Revelation stood packed.
2007 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 5 Aug. 24 I believe you were the first Revelation suitcase to travel halfway up the Amazon.
Compounds
C1. † revelation-discovery n. Obsolete
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1674 R. Boyle Excellency Theol. i. i. 19 Meer natural reason..not excited by Revelation-discovery.
C2. † revelation-day n. (also with capital initial(s)) Obsolete Judgement Day.† revelation gate n. Obsolete (perhaps) a gate ornamented with an illustration of the Apocalypse.
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society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > biblical events > Second Coming > [noun] > apocalypse
world's endeOE
dayOE
doomsdayc975
world-endOE
'pocalypseOE
last dayc1275
judgementa1325
assize1340
Great Dayc1350
accounta1400
day of retributiona1400
latter day1533
Judgement Day1544
audit1548
after-reckoning1567
revelation-day1654
Fifth monarchy1655
long account1665
account day1671
kingdom come1858
the last (also final, great) round-up1879
eschaton1935
1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 270 As I beleive on Revelation Day will appeare in civill History.
1677 J. Mitchel Disc. of Glory iv. 96 All the Gracious dealings of God with them,..laid open then, in that Revelation-day, the day of Judgement.
1758 C. Fleming Surv. Search after Souls vi. 163 At the finishing scene, the great revelation-day,..the whole mediatorial scheme and process must be declared before angels and men.
ΚΠ
?c1450 in G. J. Aungier Hist. & Antiq. Syon Monastery (1840) 292 (MED) Amonge the sustres thes officers are to be hadde..the keper of the grates, the keper of the revelacion gate, [etc.].
Derivatives
reveˈlational adj. of, relating to, or of the nature of revelation.
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society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > inspiration or revelation > [adjective]
inspiredc1450
illumined1526
godly-wise1532
revealed1533
illuminate1563
enthusiast1578
lightsome1587
enthusiastical1588
entheate1603
enthusiac1603
enthusiastic1603
illuminated1606
illightened1609
enthean1612
theopneust1647
illuminative1649
entheous1682
revelational1693
entheal1736
entheastic1804
theopneustic1838
theophanic1884
inspirational1888
theophanous1909
Beatrician1943
1693 C. Mather Wonders Invisible World 40 A Worthy Divine in the Church of England, then studying the Revelation, saw cause upon Revelational Grounds, to Declare himself [etc.].
1701 T. Beverley Grand Apoc. Question 25 I will now give the Schematic History of the Beast, in the Revelational Prophecy.
1874 H. Sidgwick Methods of Ethics iv. vi. 467 It seems..unnecessary to discuss the precise relation of different Revelational Codes to Utilitarianism.
1911 Pop. Sci. Monthly Oct. 360 How different does pooh-poohed disappointment seem; how revelational, too, in that now we can see how others did actually suffer.
2006 H. A. Harris in J. W. Rogerson & J. Lieu Oxf. Handbk. Biblical Stud. xliv. 820 Fuller distinguished revelational from non-revelational matters in Scripture, and reserved inerrancy for those that are revelational.
reveˈlationer n. rare a maker of revelations; a revelationist.
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society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > inspiration or revelation > [noun] > person believing in
revelationer1714
revelationist1739
inspirationist1846
1714 N. N. Will-with-a-wisp 55 I may presume to tell him his fortune without Palmestry or any Gift of Prophecy; that our new Revelationer of Futurities will..make him the fifth monarch of the World.
1898 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Jan. 134/2 Some of the revelationers insinuate distinctly enough that the great Chancellor was no more mistaken in that matter.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1384