[syn: divination, foretelling, soothsaying, fortune telling]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Divination \Div`i*na"tion\, n. [L. divinatio, fr. divinare,
divinatum, to foresee, foretell, fr. divinus: cf. F.
divination. See Divine.]
1. The act of divining; a foreseeing or foretelling of future
events; the pretended art discovering secret or future by
preternatural means.
[1913 Webster]
There shall not be found among you any one that . .
. useth divination, or an observer of times, or an
enchanter. --Deut. xviii.
10.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Among the ancient heathen philosophers natural
divination was supposed to be effected by a divine
afflatus; artificial divination by certain rites,
omens, or appearances, as the flight of birds, entrails
of animals, etc.
[1913 Webster]
2. An indication of what is future or secret; augury omen;
conjectural presage; prediction.
[1913 Webster]
Birds which do give a happy divination of things to
come. --Sir T.
North.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
divination
n 1: successful conjecture by unusual insight or good luck
2: a prediction uttered under divine inspiration [syn:
prophecy, divination]
3: the art or gift of prophecy (or the pretense of prophecy) by
supernatural means [syn: divination, foretelling,
soothsaying, fortune telling]
The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):
DIVINATION, n. The art of nosing out the occult. Divination is of as
many kinds as there are fruit-bearing varieties of the flowering dunce
and the early fool.