Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PROPH'E-CY, n. [Gr. προφητεια, from προφημι, to foretell; προ, before, and φημι, to tell. This ought to be written prophesy.]

1. A foretelling; prediction; a declaration of something to come. As God only knows future events with certainty, no being but God or some person informed by him, can utter a real prophecy. The prophecies recorded in Scripture, when fulfilled, afford most convincing evidence of the divine original of the Scriptures, as those who uttered the prophecies could not have foreknown the events predicted without supernatural instruction. – 2 Pet. i.
2. In Scripture, a book of prophecies; a history; as, the prophecy of Ahijah. – 2 Chron. ix.
3. Preaching; public interpretation of Scripture; exhortation or instruction. – Prov. xxxi.