Prophecy’s primary meaning is divine speaking through a human medium.

Evidence

We may say that theophany by a human medium is prophecy. A prophet is one who acts as the interpreter of God, one through whom God speaks: Qui locutus est per prophetas. This primary meaning seems to subsist, whether we speak of the Old Testament prophets, or of prophets of pagan religions, or even of prophets of purely secular modern events, who reveal (or claim to reveal) the providential designs of God. In this primary sense, which has nothing to do with the truth or otherwise of any particular claim to prophethood, Muhammad could clearly not be excluded simply by definition. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 396

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines prophecy as theophany through human medium, broader than foretelling — with Patristic Latin authority.