Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A priest in ancient Rome who practiced divination by the inspection of the entrails of animals.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One of a class of minor priests or soothsayers in ancient Rome, of Etrurian origin, whose function it was to inspect the entrails of victims killed in sacrifice, and by them, as well as by certain natural phenomena, to interpret the will of the gods.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A soothsayer or priest in Ancient Rome (originally Etruscan) who practiced divination by inspecting entrails.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin; see gherə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Borrowed from Latin haruspex.

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Examples

  • Winding through this timberland of wind catchers, Ken stops to point out the original seed, the squat "blunderbuss," a ducted turbine installed in 1926 by one Dew Oliver, who raised $12 million for his scheme, but ended up convicted of fraud, though today he would not only be absolved, but crowned a haruspex, the Benjamin Graham of energy pickers.

    Richard Bangs: How Green Is My Valley? Richard Bangs 2011

  • Winding through this timberland of wind catchers, Ken stops to point out the original seed, the squat "blunderbuss," a ducted turbine installed in 1926 by one Dew Oliver, who raised $12 million for his scheme, but ended up convicted of fraud, though today he would not only be absolved, but crowned a haruspex, the Benjamin Graham of energy pickers.

    Richard Bangs: How Green Is My Valley? Richard Bangs 2011

  • Winding through this timberland of wind catchers, Ken stops to point out the original seed, the squat "blunderbuss," a ducted turbine installed in 1926 by one Dew Oliver, who raised $12 million for his scheme, but ended up convicted of fraud, though today he would not only be absolved, but crowned a haruspex, the Benjamin Graham of energy pickers.

    Richard Bangs: How Green Is My Valley? Richard Bangs 2011

  • Winding through this timberland of wind catchers, Ken stops to point out the original seed, the squat "blunderbuss," a ducted turbine installed in 1926 by one Dew Oliver, who raised $12 million for his scheme, but ended up convicted of fraud, though today he would not only be absolved, but crowned a haruspex, the Benjamin Graham of energy pickers.

    Richard Bangs: How Green Is My Valley? Richard Bangs 2011

  • The word was haruspex, not disemboweler, the robot told Glenn.

    Archive 2008-02-01 Hal Duncan 2008

  • The word was haruspex, not disemboweler, the robot told Glenn.

    Strange Fiction in the Marketplace Hal Duncan 2008

  • In the hills near Rome in 70 BC, Tarquinius, a slave proud of his Etruscan heritage and trained as the last Etruscan haruspex soothsayer, leaves the estate when his mentor is killed on the orders of a Roman noble.

    Archive 2009-08-01 Carla 2009

  • Cato mirari se aiebat quod non ridere haruspex haruspicem cum videret.

    Latin Quotations | Impact Lab 2007

  • When presented with a new dictionary, I always look up the word haruspex.

    Rambles at starchamber.com » Blog Archive » Desperately seeking “Qatar” 2009

  • In the hills near Rome in 70 BC, Tarquinius, a slave proud of his Etruscan heritage and trained as the last Etruscan haruspex soothsayer, leaves the estate when his mentor is killed on the orders of a Roman noble.

    The Forgotten Legion, by Ben Kane. Book review Carla 2009

Comments

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  • a diviner in ancient Rome basing his predictions on inspection of the entrails of sacrificial animals.--- anyone else find that cool!

    Swany

    www.Swany.cc

    October 25, 2007

  • i like this word - i have it in an old 40s dictionary.

    July 3, 2009

  • It is rather cool. :) But the poor, poor animals. You just know they were going around killing any animal they could see...

    November 24, 2009

  • If only I had the opportunity to use this word in normal conversation...

    April 9, 2010

  • Funnily enough I have, and recently too.

    April 9, 2010