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Webster 1913 Edition


Ceromancy

Cer′o-manˊcy

,
Noun.
[Gr.
κηρόσ
wax +
-mancy
.]
Divination by dropping melted wax in water.

Definition 2024


ceromancy

ceromancy

English

Alternative forms

  • carromancy

Noun

ceromancy (uncountable)

  1. divination by pouring melted wax into water and interpreting the bubbles formed.
    • 1660, Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv
      By Ceromancy, where, by the means of Wax dissolved into Water, thou shalt see the Figure, Poutrait and lively Representation of thy future Wife, and of her Fredin Fredaliatory Belly-thumping Blades.
    • 1983, Complete Bk Predictions.
      In ceromancy, melted wax is allowed to drip into a shallow dish of cold water, and the resulting shapes are interpreted. Ceromancy was very popular in the eighteenth century, when correspondence was normally fastened with sealing wax.

Synonyms

  • ceroscopy