orature

Meaning

Noun

• The oral equivalent of literature: a collection of traditional folk songs, stories, etc., that is communicated orally rather than in writing.
• Variant of oratour.

Origin

• , said to have been coined by the Ugandan linguist and literary theorist Pio Zirimu (died 1977): see the 1972 quotation.
• From Scots oratur, orature, a variant of oratour, oritour, from Middle English oritore, a variant of ōrātōrī, ōrātōrīe, from Old French oratur, orator, oratore, oratori, oratour (modern French oratoire ("oratory; oratorical")), from Latin ōrātōrium, from ōrātōrius, from ōrātor (from ōrō, from ōs, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óh₃s ("mouth")) + -ius.