oracle

Oracle refers to several related concepts in technology, business, and culture. In modern business, Oracle Corporation is an American multinational technology company known for database software and cloud services. Founded in 1977 by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, and Ed Oates, the company develops and markets database software, enterprise applications, and cloud platforms, along with engineered systems. Its flagship product is Oracle Database, a relational database management system, and it offers products such as Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Oracle Autonomous Database, and Oracle Applications as part of its broader portfolio.

Historically, the term oracle refers to a person, place, or temple believed to convey messages from a deity, often through mediators such as priests. In the ancient world, oracles guided political and religious decisions. The best known is the Oracle of Delphi in ancient Greece, where the priestess Pythia delivered prophecies interpreted by priests and officials.

In China, oracle bones, tortoise plastrons and animal shoulder bones, were used for divination during the late Shang dynasty. Inscriptions on these bones provide early evidence of Chinese writing and a window into ancestral worship and state decision making.

In computer science, an oracle is an abstract “black box” that can instantly answer certain questions, used in theoretical models of computation and in the study of algorithmic complexity. The term is also used metaphorically for a source of authoritative guidance.