Well then I stand corrected. Seems wrong to make political prophecies instead of predictions, but I guess that is just me.
A big thumbs up to your profile page.
Very nice collection of flags.
No, Greg, you're correct. It's the dictionary that's wrong.
it's just that in common parlance, they're used interchangeably.
Biblically, prophets were "called" by God and "sent" to "tell", sent to tell the people the message God had for them whether it was a call to repentance, comfort in exile, or whatever.
They weren't crystal ball gazers or predictors of the future. God simply sent them to tell the people His messages which sometimes included telling them what He would do if they didn't change their ways.
You are correct in saying that that differs from prediction.
the prophet "model", if you will, was based on the ancient custom of a ruling king sending a special messenger to a vassal state indicating his commands for it. As a matter of fact, some of the Biblical prophetic writings even use formulae similar to those of the messages of overlords to their vassals that have been discovered archaeologically.
So, you are correct. Prediction is not the same as prophecy but the term prophecy has been bastardized from its original meaning over time.