divination

American  

[div-uh-ney-shuhn] / ˌdɪv əˈneɪ ʃən /

noun

• divinations
  plural

1. the practice of attempting to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge by occult or supernatural means.

2. augury; prophecy.

   The divination of the high priest was fulfilled.

3. perception by intuition; instinctive foresight.

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divination British  

/ ˌdɪvɪˈneɪʃən /

noun

1. the art, practice, or gift of discerning or discovering future events or unknown things, as though by supernatural powers

2. a prophecy

3. a presentiment or guess

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• divinatory
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• divinations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of divination

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English divinacioun, from Anglo-French, from Latin dīvīnātiōn-, stem of dīvīnātiō, equivalent to dīvīnāt(us) “soothsaid” (past participle of dīvīnāre “to soothsay”; see divine) + -iō -ion

Explanation

The idea that you can see the future by supernatural means is called divination. When your friend tells your fortune by reading the tea leaves in your cup, she claims to have the power of divination. The prediction or prophecy itself that's given through the act of fortune telling is also called divination. A psychic's divination that your aunt will soon start a family is much less impressive if your aunt is obviously pregnant. You can also use divination to refer to someone's unusual intuition, like a child who seems to know by divination when someone is feeling sad or upset.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

divination divinations

Clients have drifted away from Song Oh-soon's fortune-telling village on the edge of Seoul, preferring online AI-powered divination to the centuries-old prophesying tradition still practised there.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

The “Harry Potter” team did not need a divination expert to know its cast would encounter some “unpleasant and aggressive behavior.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026

From precolonial Mexico we discover obsidian mirrors used for divination in Mayan and Aztec ceremonies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026

The shamans, like the one seen in “Squid Game,” usually are mediators to the spirit world using divination or other rituals.

From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2025

Once I’d placed the quarter in my inventory, I hadn’t been able to remove it, so I’d never been able to have any divination or identification spells cast on it.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

Now, as a parent, I know better: They were divinations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2023

Mercury in retrograde was believed to impede such endeavors, as well as these astrologers’ divinations.

From National Geographic ● Aug. 24, 2023

Each village had several shamans, who specialized in various divinations, healings and funeral rites.

From Scientific American ● Jan. 5, 2023

This is always a busy time at the Club as we take turns peering into a fresh batch of election results and sharing our divinations.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 11, 2022

Stringing vain words of powers we cannot see, Blind divinations of a will supreme; Lost labour! when the circumambient gloom But hides, if Gods, Gods careless of our doom?

From Poetical Works of Matthew Arnold by Matthew Arnold