haruspication
/həˌrʌspɪˈkeɪʃən/
noun
- The practice of predicting the future or interpreting omens by examining the entrails (especially the liver) of sacrificed animals, used in ancient Roman and Etruscan religion.
- The ancient Romans relied on haruspication before making important state decisions.
- Historians study haruspication to understand how the Etruscans viewed fate and the gods.
- In the museum, there was an exhibit on haruspication with models of animal livers used for divination.
- A modern or figurative term for any attempt to gain hidden knowledge through obscure or questionable methods.
- The detective joked that his job sometimes felt like haruspication, searching for clues in messy evidence.
- His method of choosing a restaurant by dropping a pin on a map felt like modern haruspication.
- Some investors treat stock market analysis like a form of haruspication, looking for signs in random data.
Synonyms