haruspicy en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /həˈɹʌspɪsi/
Etymology
From Latin haruspicium, from haruspex (“diviner of entrails”) + -ium (forming abstract nouns).
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) Divination by use of animal entrails, usually the victims of sacrifice.
That our fates should be made dependent upon the stars, planets, and constellations, however preposterous a conceit, at least imparts a dignity to our nature by conjoining earth with Heaven: but that the doom of kings, empires, and individuals, should be regulated […] by the entrails of victims, as analysed by the butchers of Haruspicy […] is an evidence of stupid credulity that levels civilised man to the savage […]
1825, Horace Smith, Gaieties and Gravities: A Series of Essays, Comic Tales, and Fugitive Vagaries, Volume II, H. Colburn, page 333Different kinds of divination, which have passed for sciences, we have had: […] 6. Haruspicy, by inspecting the bowels of animals. […]
1807, Charles Buck, A Theological Dictionary, Volume 1, Whitehall, page 238:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| aruspicy | alternative | lexicographic | |
| haruspicies | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
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Hyponyms
Synonyms
Translations (4)
fr haruspice (divination by entrails) · la extispicium (divination by entrails) · la haruspicium (divination by entrails) · fr extispice (divination by entrails)