Translate oratory | into German | into Italian Definition of oratory
noun (plural oratories)
1a small chapel, especially for private worship. [ Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French oratorie, from ecclesiastical Latin oratorium, based on Latin orare 'pray, speak']
2 (Oratory) (in the Roman Catholic Church) a religious society of secular priests founded in Rome in 1564 to provide plain preaching and popular services and established in various countries. [from Congregation of the Fathers of the Oratory]
Derivatives
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noun & adjective
