Standard Lemma guide

ceromancy

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.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Divination by pouring melted wax into water and interpreting the bubbles formed.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • 1660, Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv By Ceromancy, where, by the means of Wax dissolved into Water, thou shalt see the Figure, Poutrait and lively Representation of thy future Wife, and of her Fredin Fredaliatory Belly-thumping Blades.
  • 1983, Complete Bk Predictions. In ceromancy, melted wax is allowed to drip into a shallow dish of cold water, and the resulting shapes are interpreted. Ceromancy was very popular in the eighteenth century, when correspondence was normally fastened with sealing wax.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κηρός (kērós, “wax”) + -mancy.