sortilege
Americannoun
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the drawing of lots for divination; divination by lot.
-
sorcery; magic.
noun
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the act or practice of divination by drawing lots
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magic or sorcery
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of sortilege
1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin sortilegium, for Latin sortilegus, equivalent to sort- (stem of sors ) lot, chance + -i- -i- + -legus (derivative of legere to read, count, choose out); see -ium
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Sherman Billingsley would greet her with a bottle of Sortilege perfume,” she recalled.
From New York Times • Jun. 16, 2011
“For a long time, I was told if you used voice-over, that’s a no-no,” said Anderson, in response to a question about the Sortilege character.
From Newsweek
The honey-sweet voice-over narration performed by singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom in the role of Sortilege seems to fall into this category.
From Newsweek
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.