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rhapsodomancy. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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English
Etymology
From French rhapsodomancie, from Ancient Greek ῥαψῳδός (rhapsōidós) + -mancy.
Noun
rhapsodomancy (uncountable)
- Divination by reading a random passage from a poem.
1723, Fabricii, Bibliographia Antiquaria xii:Rhapsodomantia sive divinatio ex rhapsodia aliqva poëtæ.
- 1953, Gaynor (ed.), Dict. Mysticism
- Rhapsodomancy: A form of divination, based on a line in a sacred book or book of poetry which strikes the eye when the book is opened, or which is the last line to be pierced by a needle stuck through the closed book.
1998, Deborah J. Bennett, Randomness, Harvard University Press, page 42:Using chance to arrive at a particular passage in the I Ching is a form of rhapsodomancy: the seeking of guidance through the chance selection of a passage in a literary work. Another early form of rhapsodomancy is represented by the sibylline books. [...]