sortilege
Americannoun
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the drawing of lots for divination; divination by lot.
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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.
Similarly dice are thrown for purposes of sortilege; the astragali or knucklebones, used in children’s games at the present day, were implements of divination in the first instance.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 5 "Dinard" to "Dodsworth" by Various
The casting of lots, sortilege, was common in classical antiquity; the Homeric heroes prayed to the gods when they cast lots in Agamemnon’s leather cap, and Mopsus divined with sacred lots when the Argonauts embarked.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 5 "Dinard" to "Dodsworth" by Various
Now the actions of man that are required for sortilege and their results are not subject to the dispositions of the stars.
From Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint
Arrest & procedure faicte par le Lieutenant Criminel d Orleans, contre Siluain Neuillon, Gentien le Clerc dit Niuelle, & Mathurin Ferrand du village de Nouan en Sologne, conuaincus de sortilege le 20 Juin 1614.
From The Witch-cult in Western Europe A Study in Anthropology by Murray, Margaret Alice
Perhaps that was the secret of her sortilege.
From The Shadow Line; a confession by Conrad, Joseph
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.
