rhabdomancy

[ rab-duh-man-see ]

/ ˈræb dəˌmæn si /

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noun

divination by means of a rod or wand, especially in discovering ores, springs of water, etc.

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Origin of rhabdomancy

1640–50; <Late Greek rhabdomanteía;see rhabdo-, -mancy

OTHER WORDS FROM rhabdomancy

rhab·do·man·tist, noun

Words nearby rhabdomancy

Rhabditis, rhabdo-, rhabdocoele, rhabdoid, rhabdom, rhabdomancy, rhabdomyoblast, rhabdomyolysis, rhabdomyoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, Rhabdoviridae

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use rhabdomancy in a sentence

Hazel-rods were used to "divine" for water and minerals by professors of an art which received the crack-jaw title of Rhabdomancy.
Miscellanea|Juliana Horatia Ewing
Sir Thomas Browne also speaks of a 'strange kind of exploration and peculiar way of Rhabdomancy' used in mineral discoveries.
Storyology|Benjamin Taylor
Rhabdomancy, a species of divination by means of a hazel rod to trace the presence of minerals or metals under ground.
The Nuttall Encyclopaedia|Edited by Rev. James Wood
It is not water, but treasures which they profess to find by some hidden kind of rhabdomancy.
Narrative And Miscellaneous Papers|Thomas De Quincey

We find rhabdomancy a popular form of divination among the Greeks, and also among the Romans.
Curious Myths of the Middle Ages|Sabine Baring-Gould

British Dictionary definitions for rhabdomancy

rhabdomancy

/ (ˈræbdəˌmænsɪ) /

noun

divination for water or mineral ore by means of a rod or wand; dowsing; divining

Derived forms of rhabdomancy

rhabdomantist or rhabdomancer, noun

Word Origin for rhabdomancy

C17: via Late Latin from Late Greek rhabdomanteia, from rhabdos a rod + manteia divination

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