necromancy

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (1)  · 
“
I need hardly remind you that ‘necromancy’ is a Greek word, which signifies, according to its proper meaning, a prophesying by aid of the dead, or that it rests on the presumed power of raising up by potent spells the dead, and compelling them to give answers about things to come.

View all »
Definitions (8)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun The practice of supposedly communicating with the spirits of the dead in order to predict the future.
  2. noun Black magic; sorcery.
  3. noun Magic qualities.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • "There are two kinds of necromancy: the one where the dead is raised by naming him, the other where he is invoked by means of a skull." —  Signs of the Times
  • This king was an adept in necromancy, and a male and a female devil were always in waiting for an emergency. —  Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1 (of 3)
  • I need hardly remind you that ‘necromancy’ is a Greek word, which signifies, according to its proper meaning, a prophesying by aid of the dead, or that it rests on the presumed power of raising up by potent spells the dead, and compelling them to give answers about things to come. —  English Past and Present
  • The painfulness of the process of restoration to life after drowning seems to favour the former explanation These cases of resurrection are, of course, quite different from ordinary necromancy--the summoning of the shade of a dead man from the world below, in order to ask its advice with the help of a professional diviner. —  Greek and Roman Ghost Stories
  • He had a strong belief in necromancy, and had never heard that there was sin in its practice. —  The Lost Treasure of Trevlyn A Story of the Days of the Gunpowder Plot
More examples »
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 124 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Alteration of Middle English nigromancie, from Old French nigremancie, from Medieval Latin nigromantia, alteration (influenced by Latin niger, black) of Late Latin necromantia, from Greek nekromanteia : nekros, corpse; see nek-1 in Indo-European roots + manteia, divination; see -mancy.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. In earlier use corruptly nicromancy, nigromancy, negromancy; from Middle English nigromancie, nigromauncie, nygramansi, nigremauncie, and, with loss of initial n, egramauncye, egremauncye, from Old French nigromance, nigremenche, French nécromancie = Spanish nigromancia = Portuguese necromancia, negromancia = It, necromanzia, negromanzia, nigromanzia, from . L. necromantia, Middle Latin corruptly nigromantia (a form simulating Latin niger, black, as if the ‘black art’), from Gr, νεκρομαντεία, also νεκρομαντεῖον, an evoking of the dead to cause them to reveal the future, from νεκρός, a dead body, + μαντεία, divination, from μαντεύεοθαι, divine, prophesy: see Mantis.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/ˈnɛkrəmænsi/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about once a year.

Recently looked up

Batz · initializer · viv · rig · rich

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

Der dicke Dachdecker deckte dir dein Dach, drum dank dem dicken Dachdecker, dass der dicke Dachdecker dir dein Dach deckte. · weitläufig · und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, so leben sie noch heute · redescheu · selbstverständlich