Vatic: describing or predicting what will happen in the future; prophetic.

No, it doesn’t come from the same root word as “Vatican.” Vatican is from the latin, vaticanus, referring to Vatican Hill in Rome. Vatic comes from the Latin, vāt Ä“s or seer + -ic. At least, I think those are separate source words. Correct me if I’m wrong, ye Latin scholars.

Anyway, vatic. As in, the candidate’s vatic speeches were received by the crowd with great awe and credulity. Or, her vatic trance ended abruptly when the dog bit her behind. Or, How vatic L’Enfant was when he laid out Washington as a city that goes around in circles! (I replaced the word “prophetic” with “vatic” in that last sentence, a quotation from author John Mason Brown.)

Oh, and don’t even believe my non-vatic utterances. I just looked at A Word a Day, and found this etymology for vatic:

From Latin vates (prophet). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wet- (to blow or inspire) which is also the source of fan, atmosphere, Vatican