ololygmancy means divination by the howling of dogs. It carries an Arena rating of 1335, earned across 61 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, ololygmancy ranks #81 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #261 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #651 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #1,136 of 17,131 for Scariest Words.
Why “ololygmancy” is a great word
OLOLYGMANCY — [Noun] Divination by interpreting the howling of dogs. From Ancient Greek ὀλολυγή (ololugḗ, "a howling or loud cry") + -mancy (from μαντεία (manteía), "prophecy, divination"). Unlike augury, which reads the broad flight of birds, or oneiromancy, which plumbs the symbolic depths of dreams, ololygmancy listens only to the canine cry as a raw, external text. It is the frantic chorus that shreds the village dark, the solitary, plaintive wail from a fog-shrouded hillside, and the low moan carried on a wind from an empty field—a practice built on the primal conviction that the world speaks, if only in tongues of anguish.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ὀλολυγή (ololugḗ) + -mancy.
noun
- Divination by the howling of dogs.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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