haruspex
Americannoun
-
haruspices
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of haruspex
First recorded in 1575–85; from Latin, equivalent to haru- (akin to hīra “intestine”; see chord 1) + spec- (stem of specere “to look at”) + -s nominative singular ending
Explanation
In ancient Rome, a haruspex was someone who told the future using omens they found in the bodies of animals that had been sacrificed to the gods. A particular kind of soothsayer or fortune teller, a haruspex had the distasteful job of examining the internal organs of dead animals. Many ancient civilizations held the belief that messages from the gods, as well as portents of future events, could be found in animals' entrails by a knowledgeable haruspex. The word haruspex means "soothsayer by means of entrails," and is derived from the roots spek, "to observe," and ghere-, "gut or entrail."
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.
See Examples For:
In ancient times, there would have been some official haruspex charged with picking over the entrails of a sacrificial offering ahead of any important occasion.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 22, 2010
Manlius assisted in bringing the animals selected for victims to the haruspex.
From A Christian But a Roman by Mór Jókai
Even Cato,91 the leader of the orthodox, national, and conservative party, expressed his surprise that a haruspex, when meeting a colleague, did not burst out laughing.
From Lectures on The Science of Language by Max Müller
Thy hallowed augurs can divine Whate'er dark song the birds of omen sing; Of augury thou art the king, And thy wise haruspex finds meaning fit For what the gods have in the victims writ.
From The Elegies of Tibullus Being the Consolations of a Roman Lover Done in English Verse by Theodore C. Williams
Cato, the Censor, is on record as saying "that he wondered how one haruspex could look another in the face without laughing!"
From Wind and Weather by Alexander McAdie
Hence his every action is scrutinized and picked to bits, as Etruscan haruspices once examined sacrificial livers for a sign of the future.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Etruscan priests who called themselves haruspices or augurs had rules for predicting the future.
From History Of Ancient Civilization by Charles Seignobos
Evidently these haruspices did not always make correct forecasts; for there were some Romans who openly questioned their worth.
From Wind and Weather by Alexander McAdie
The haruspices were again on the spot and gave the same report; and then, solutis religione animis, the centuries sanctioned the war.
From The Religious Experience of the Roman People From the Earliest Times to the Age of Augustus by W. Warde Fowler
From Etruria was introduced the art of the haruspices, or soothsayers, which consisted in discovering the divine mind by the appearance of victims slain for the sacrifices.
From General History for Colleges and High Schools by Philip Van Ness Myers
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.
