The Oracle of the Holy Bottle
Preserved but no longer current.
The oracle to which Rabelais (Bks. iv and v) sent Panurge and a large party to obtain an answer to a question which had been put to sibyl and poet, monk and fool, philosopher and witch, judge and fortune-teller: "whether Panurge should marry or not?" The oracle was situated at Bacbuc (#.v.), "near Cathay in Upper Egypt,"1 and the story has been interpreted as a satire on the Church.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “The Oracle of the Holy Bottle” mean?
The oracle to which Rabelais (Bks. iv and v) sent Panurge and a large party to obtain an answer to a question which had been put to sibyl and poet, monk and fool, philosopher and witch, judge and fortune-teller: "whether Panurge should marry or not?" The oracle was situated at Bacbuc (#.v.), "near Cathay in Upper Egypt,"1 and the story has been interpreted as a satire on the Church.
Is “The Oracle of the Holy Bottle” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.