Oratoribus

Oratoribus is a Latin word form that derives from orator, meaning a public speaker. It is the dative and ablative plural of the noun, used to express either “to/for the orators” or “by/with the orators,” depending on the syntactic role in a sentence. In Latin, the third declension noun orator has nominative plural oratores, genitive oratorum, and the dative/ablative plural oratoribus.

The form appears in classical Latin where plural references to multiple speakers are required, especially in dedications, addresses, or phrases involving gifts, commands, or actions directed toward or by a group of orators. For example, donum oratoribus datum est would translate as “a gift was given to the orators.” Because oratoribus functions as either dative or ablative plural, its exact meaning hinges on the surrounding verbs and prepositions.

Etymology traces orator to oratio (speech), from which terms such as orator and oratory also arise. The plural form oratoribus reflects standard Latin morphology for masculine nouns of the -tor family in the dative and ablative plural.

In scholarly use, oratoribus is primarily encountered in linguistic analysis, Latin epigraphy, and classical texts where grammatical case governs relationship to other elements in a sentence. It is not a proper name or a widely recognized title in its own right, but a grammatical form that appears in authentic Latin passages whenever plural speakers are involved.

See also: orator, Latin grammar, Latin declension.