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Webster 1913 Edition

Oration

O-ra′tion

,
Noun.
[L.
oratio
, fr.
orare
to speak, utter, pray. See
Oral
,
Orison
.]
An elaborate discourse, delivered in public, treating an important subject in a formal and dignified manner; especially, a discourse having reference to some special occasion, as a funeral, an anniversary, a celebration, or the like; – distinguished from an argument in court, a popular harangue, a sermon, a lecture, etc.;
as, Webster’s
oration
at Bunker Hill
.
The lord archbishop . . . made a long
oration
.
Bacon.
Syn. – Address; speech. See
Harangue
.

O-ra′tion

,
Verb.
I.
To deliver an oration.
Donne.

Webster 1828 Edition

Oration

ORA'TION

,
Noun.
[L. oratio, from oro, to pray, to utter.]
1.
A speech or discourse composed according to the rules of oratory, and spoken in public. Orations may be reduced to three kinds; demonstrative, deliberative, and judicial.
2.
In modern usage, an oration differs from a sermon, from an argument at the bar, and from a speech before a deliberative assembly. The word is now applied chiefly to discourses pronounced on special occasions, as a funeral oration, an oration on some anniversary, &c. and to academic declamations.
3.
A harangue; a public speech or address.

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