English Dictionary |
SOOTHSAYING
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Dictionary entry overview: What does soothsaying mean?
• SOOTHSAYING (noun)
The noun SOOTHSAYING has 1 sense:
1. the art or gift of prophecy (or the pretense of prophecy) by supernatural means
Familiarity information: SOOTHSAYING used as a noun is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
The art or gift of prophecy (or the pretense of prophecy) by supernatural means
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Synonyms:
divination; foretelling; fortune telling; soothsaying
Hypernyms ("soothsaying" is a kind of...):
prognostication; prophecy; vaticination (knowledge of the future (usually said to be obtained from a divine source))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "soothsaying"):
arithmancy (divination by means of numbers)
dowse; dowsing; rhabdomancy (searching for underground water or minerals by using a dowsing rod)
geomancy (divination by means of signs connected with the earth (as points taken at random or the arrangement of particles thrown down at random or from the configuration of a region and its relation to another))
hydromancy (divination by water (as by patterns seen in the ebb and flow of the tides))
lithomancy (divination by means of stones or stone talismans)
necromancy (conjuring up the dead, especially for prophesying)
oneiromancy (divination through the interpretation of dreams)
onomancy (divination by the letters of a name)
chirology; chiromancy; palm reading; palmistry (telling fortunes by lines on the palm of the hand)
pyromancy (divination by fire or flames)
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