Emily Dickinson Lexicon

OR'A-TO-RY, n. [Low L. oratoria, from orator.]

1. The art of speaking well, or of speaking according to the rules of rhetoric, in order to persuade. To constitute oratory, the speaking must be just and pertinent to the subject; it must be methodical, all parts of the discourse being disposed in due order and connection; and it must be embellished with the beauties of language and pronounced with eloquence. Oratory consists of four parts, invention, disposition, elocution, and pronunciation. Encyc. Cyc.
2. Exercise of eloquence. Arbuthnot.
3. Among the Romanists, a close apartment near a bed-chamber, furnished with an altar, a crucifix, &c. for private devotions.
4. A place allotted for prayer, or a place for public worship. Hooker. Taylor.