Definitions

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

  • noun Divination by means of lines and figures or by geographic features.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The pretended art of divining future events, or of ascertaining the luckiness or unluckiness of any event or locality, by means of signs connected with the earth, as from the figure indicated by points taken at random on the surface, or from the disposition of the particles of a handful of dust or earth thrown down at random, or, as in China, from the configuration and aspect of a particular region in its relation to some other. Also geomanty.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A kind of divination by means of figures or lines, formed by little dots or points, originally on the earth, and latterly on paper.

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

  • noun A method of divination which interprets markings on the ground or how handfuls of dirt land when tossed.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun divination by means of signs connected with the earth (as points taken at random or the arrangement of particles thrown down at random or from the configuration of a region and its relation to another)

Etymologies

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

[Middle English geomancie, from Medieval Latin geōmantia, from Late Greek geōmanteia, divination by signs from the earth : Greek geō-, geo- + Greek -manteia, -mancy.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Medieval Latin geomantia from late Ancient Greek γεωμαντεία.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word geomancy.

Examples

  • They also believed lodestones to be an important factor in geomancy, otherwise known as feng shui

    Weird Stones Heather McDougal 2007

  • They also believed lodestones to be an important factor in geomancy, otherwise known as feng shui

    Archive 2007-07-01 Heather McDougal 2007

  • The term feng shui, which translates literally as “wind and water,” refers to what Westerners call geomancy—the placement and location of buildings, man-made structures, and interior objects so as to harmonize with and benefit from the surrounding natural environment.

    MARKETING AESTHETICS BERND SCHMITT 1997

  • The term feng shui, which translates literally as “wind and water,” refers to what Westerners call geomancy—the placement and location of buildings, man-made structures, and interior objects so as to harmonize with and benefit from the surrounding natural environment.

    MARKETING AESTHETICS BERND SCHMITT 1997

  • The term feng shui, which translates literally as “wind and water,” refers to what Westerners call geomancy—the placement and location of buildings, man-made structures, and interior objects so as to harmonize with and benefit from the surrounding natural environment.

    MARKETING AESTHETICS BERND SCHMITT 1997

  • Another extension of Yin and Yang is found in Chinese geomancy, known as feng-shui, literally ‘wind and water’.

    The Tao of Health, Sex and Longevity Daniel Reid 1989

  • If these signs appear in some earthly body such as wood, iron or polished stone, it is called "geomancy," if in water "hydromancy," if in the air "aeromancy," if in fire

    Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province Aquinas Thomas

  • Others include 'geomancy' (seeing into the future by throwing earth on the ground and interpreting the resulting lines and shapes); 'hydromancy' (studying the patterns and movement of water); and 'pyromancy' (studying the shapes and patterns of flames and fires).

    Femalefirst.co.uk - Celebrity Gossip + Lifestyle Magazine 2010

  • To this second species of divination, which is without express invocation of the demons, belongs that which is practiced by observing certain things done seriously by men in the research of the occult, whether by drawing lots, which is called "geomancy"; or by observing the shapes resulting from molten lead poured into water; or by observing which of several sheets of paper, with or without writing upon them, a person may happen to draw; or by holding out several unequal sticks and noting who takes the greater or the lesser, or by throwing dice, and observing who throws the highest score; or by observing what catches the eye when one opens a book, all of which are named "sortilege."

    Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province Aquinas Thomas

  • In fact, practitioners of Chinese feng shui (geomancy) see qi as earth energy whose flow, when properly regulated and encouraged, makes for a happy, fertile home, and when ignored or misused results in a living or working space that can lead to stagnant creativity, illness and misery.

    Arthur Rosenfeld: What Is Qi? Arthur Rosenfeld 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Divination by studying patterns and markings in the earth. However, in some Final Fantasy games it means your character can throw rocks around and cause earthquakes.

    December 1, 2007

  • The perfectly good English word for what is more widely known as feng shui

    December 25, 2008