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sortilege

American  
[sawr-tl-ij] / ˈsɔr tl ɪdʒ /

noun

  1. the drawing of lots for divination; divination by lot.

  2. sorcery; magic.


sortilege British  
/ ˈsɔːtɪlɪdʒ /

noun

  1. the act or practice of divination by drawing lots

  2. magic or sorcery

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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

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