belomancy

/ˈbɛl.əʊ.mæn.si/

belomancy means studying the flight of arrows, an ancient form of divination used by the Greeks and Arabs. It carries an Arena rating of 1414, earned across 43 head-to-head judged battles.

Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, belomancy ranks #556 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #1,003 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #1,050 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #1,874 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say.

belomancy is pronounced /ˈbɛl.əʊ.mæn.si/.

Why “belomancy” is a great word

BELOMANCY — [Noun] Divination performed by interpreting the flight of arrows or by drawing marked arrows at random from a quiver. From Ancient Greek βέλος (bélos, "arrow, dart") + -μαντεία (-manteía, "divination"). First attested in English around 1640–50. Unlike bibliomancy, which seeks fate in the fixed pages of a book, or the more general sortilege, which covers any casting of lots, belomancy is a discipline of the sky and the shaft, an oracle of trajectory and pointed chance. It is the dry rattle of fletched lots in a leather bag, the solitary arc against a blank desert sky, the final, quivering angle of a shaft in sun-baked earth—a faith that what is launched without aim will land with purpose.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βέλος (bélos, “an arrow, dart”) + -mancy.

noun

Studying the flight of arrows, an ancient form of divination used by the Greeks and Arabs.

Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Words closest in meaning

By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.

ornithomancy 64% match — Divination by means of birds, especially from their behaviour, flight, vocalisations, etc. vs belomancy →
astragalomancy 63% match — Any form of divination by dice. vs belomancy →
astragyromancy 62% match — Divination by dice. vs belomancy →
botanomancy 61% match — Divination by plants. A form of pyromancy in which tree branches and/or leaves are burnt. vs belomancy →
ambulomancy 61% match — Any of various forms of divination that involve walking, often in circles. vs belomancy →
libanomancy 61% match — Divination by interpreting the smoke or ash of incense. vs belomancy →
archaeomancy 60% match — Divination using sacred relics. vs belomancy →
armomancy 60% match — Divination using the shoulder blade of an animal. It was taken from a dead animal and thrown into a fire, and the cracks formed in the bone were then interpreted. vs belomancy →