hippomancy
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
24
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Divination by the interpretation of the appearance and behaviour of horses. Their neighing and stamping are particularly noted.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii. Hippomantia ex hinnitu, fremitu, sudore.."
- "1911 Encyc. of Religion & Ethics There is also a trace of hippomancy in Persia. According to Herodotus (iii. 84-87), after Darius and six other Persian nobles had slain the pseudo-Smerdis, they agreed that he should be king whose horse should first neigh after sunrise, when they had mounted their steeds."
- "1973 L. Watson Supernature ix. Precoginition means "knowing in advance," and systems of knowing cover just about every possible source of variation. They include..hippomancy (based on the stamping of horses)... None of these need be taken seriously..."
Etymology
From hippo- + -mancy.