Standard Lemma guide

catoptromancy

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Divination by use of mirrors, or other reflective surfaces.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • 1660, Urquhart tr. Rabelais, Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. Her Trippa going on in his Discourse, said by Catoptromancy, likewise held in such account by the Emperor Didius Julianus, That by means thereof, he ever and anon foresaw all that which at any time did happen or befal unto him: Thou shalt not need to put on thy Spectacles; for in a Mirror thou wilt see her as clearly and manifestly Nebrundiated, and Billibodring-it, as if I should shew it in the Fountain of the Temple of Minerva near Parras.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek κάτοπτρον (kátoptron, “mirror”) + -mancy.