sibylline
/ˈsɪbɪlaɪn/ adjective, noun
Forms sibyllines sybilline
- adjective Of or pertaining to or resembling a sibyl or female oracle, especially the Cumaean Sibyl and the Sibylline Books.
- adjective (by extension) Having oracle-like predicting powers, clairvoyant.
- adjective (by extension) Occult, mysterious.
- adjective Excessively and exorbitantly expensive. (In allusion to the Sibyl who sold three books to Tarquinius Superbus at the price of the original nine.)
- noun One of the Sibylline Oracles or Sibylline Books.
Synonyms
sibyllic enigmatic divinatory mantic vatic vatical cabalistic kabbalistic qabalistic cryptic cryptical
Etymology
From Latin sibyllinus, Sibillinus, from Sibylla. By surface analysis, sibyl + -ine.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Pertaining to the sibyls; uttered, written, or composed by sibyls; like the productions of sibyls. Sibylline books. (a) (Rom.
Etymology [L. sibyllinus.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sibylline”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details