orans means A figure in an attitude of prayer, usually standing, with the elbows close to the sides of the body and with the hands outstretched sideways, palms up. It carries an Arena rating of 1568, earned across 40 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, orans ranks #875 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,029 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #1,815 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #3,370 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words.
Why “orans” is a great word
ORANS — [Noun] A figure depicted in a posture of prayer, typically standing with arms outstretched to the sides and palms facing upward. From the Latin orans, present participle of orare ("to pray, to speak"). Unlike "orant" (its art-historical doublet) or "supplicant" (a general petitioner), *orans* evokes the specific, formalized geometry of invocation. It is the silhouette etched in catacomb frescoes, the upturned marble palms of a saint in a niche, and the shadowed cross of a monk's robe at vespers—a body made into a permanent vessel of prayer, a plea fossilized into a permanent argument, waiting millennia for a reply.
Etymology
Derived from Latin orans (“praying”). Doublet of orant.
noun
- A figure in an attitude of prayer, usually standing, with the elbows close to the sides of the body and with the hands outstretched sideways, palms up.
- The posture or bodily attitude of such a figure.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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