Meanings
- uncountableDivination through the interpretation of words (written or spoken) encountered by chance.
We shall find Cledonism stereotyped and converted into palpable lots in the most perfected of the lottery methods, that which uses written speech, phrases designated by chance and applied to a given interrogation.
1924 March 28, The Fortnightly Review, page 4441 more example
And indeed cledonism, or the putting of a prophetic sense on words spoken with another reference (John xi. 50 sq.) can never have been the business of a class of men (Jud. ix. 37, Jer. xxvii. 9, Micah v. 12), or been so marked a type of divination that Isaiah could speak of it as characteristically Philistine, and that Isa. lvii. 3 could found on it a name of opprobrium.
1885, The Journal of Philology, volume XIV, page 117Synonyms: cledonomancy
Synonyms & antonyms
nounDivination through the interpretation of words (written or spoken) encountered by chance.
Origin
- Ancient Greekκληδών“an omen”
- Englishcledonism
From Ancient Greek κληδών (klēdṓn, “an omen”) + -ism.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
cledonism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cledonism
“cledonism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cledonism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cledonism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cledonism.
Source: cledonism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.