aruspice

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A form of haruspex — A soothsayer or priest in Ancient Rome (originally Etruscan) who practiced haruspicy, divination by inspecting entrails.

Scrabble 12

Meanings

nounaruspice (plural aruspices)

plural aruspices

  1. alternativeAlternative form of haruspex.

    The aruspices, by whose admonition [aruspicum monitu] PLINY had undertaken to rebuild the temple of CERES, were always more revered in Tuscany, than in any other part of Italy.

    1751, John Boyle Earl of Orrery, The Letters of Pliny the Younger
    2 more examples

    The Roman aruspices were all taken at first from Etruria, where their art was in great repute, but afterwards the senate ordered twelve of the sons of the chief men in Rome to be sent into that country to learn the rites and ceremonies of the Etruscan religion, of which the science was the chief part.

    1810, William Fordyce Mavor, The History of Rome, from the Foundation of the City Till the Termination of the Eastern Empire

    He therefore determined to offer without delay a sacrifice of two sheep, and sent off messengers to fetch an aruspice who might examine the entrails of those poor animals, with a view to discover what this sudden and miraculous growth of horns might signify.

    1830, Tales of the Classics
Cite this entry
APA

aruspice. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aruspice

MLA

“aruspice.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aruspice. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “aruspice,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aruspice.

Source: aruspice on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.