(THEE-oh-ride) A noun, denoting a container or vessel that carries sacred messages. Derived from the Greek word θεωρίς, meaning “a sacred ship which carried the θεωροί.”
A θεωρός was an ambassadorlike person sent to consult an oracle, or to present an offering — such as the people who Athens sent to Delphi. A bottle with a written prayer in it, thrown into a river, would be a theoride. As is consistent with the derivation, we often, though not always, hope for a response when we send off a theoride.