ornithomancy

ornithomancy

English

Etymology

ornitho- +‎ -mancy

Noun

ornithomancy (uncountable)

1. Divination by means of birds, especially from their behaviour, flight, vocalisations, etc.
   • 1840 April, Thomas de Quincey, “Modern Superstition”, in Blackwoods Magazine, page 564, column 2:

     This chapter in the great volume of superstition was indeed cultivated with unusual solicitude amongst the Pagans - ornithomancy (or the derivation of omens from the motions of birds) grew into an elaborate science.

   • 1880, James Grant, The Mysteries of all Nations, Leith: Reid & Son, page 380:

     Ornithomancy was a popular way of searching into futurity.

Translations

divination by means of birds

Arabic: تَطَيُّر‎ m (taṭayyur), طِيَرَة‎ f (ṭiyara), طِيرَة‎ f (ṭīra) Greek: Ancient: οἰωνίζομαι (oiōnízomai)