means A person believed to speak for a god or to foresee the future, often delivering warnings or revelations on that authority.

from From Greek 'prophetes,' literally 'one who speaks before' or 'on behalf of' — 'pro-' (before, for) plus 'phanai' (to speak). In the Greek world a prophetes was the mouthpiece who voiced the oracle's pronouncements. It passed through Latin 'propheta' into Old French and reached English by the medieval period, where it settled into religious use. Worth noting: the soundalike 'profit' is unrelated — that one comes from Latin 'proficere,' to advance or gain.