Meanings
- uncountablePrognostication based on the interpretation of dreams.
The three types are oneirocrisy, cledonomancy and the investigation of chance omens encountered "on the way", i.e. while traveling.
1975, David Sansone, Aeschylean metaphors for intellectual activity, page 423 more examples
Having consulted his father thereupon, well skilled in Oneirocrisy, he called his son Kilkhan, and explained them thus: That according to the first dream, out of the progeny of Kilkhan should arise three princes which should possess the empire of the Moguls, and should transmit it to a fourth, who should subjugate a great part of the world, and divide it amongst his children.
1842, Charles Daubuz, Peter Lancaster, Matthew Habershon, A symbolical dictionary, page 175It seems clear that he was a proficient in this art of oneirocrisy ; it being the practice after his apotheosis (for he became a god) for his worshippers to sleep beside his altar in the pious hope of a prophetic dream.
1852, Abraham Moore Pindar, The Odes of Pindar, page 196There exists, nevertheless, a certain category of dreams, well-known to traditional oneirocrisy, the memory of which persists with an incisive clarity, and this can happen even if the profound content of these dreams appears to conceal itself.
1987, Titus Burckhardt, William Stoddart, Mirror of the Intellect, page 57
Origin
- Ancient Greekὄνειρος“dream”
- Englishoneirocrisy
From Ancient Greek ὄνειρος (óneiros, “dream”) + the middle voice of κρίνω (krínō, “I separate, judge, decide”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
oneirocrisy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oneirocrisy
“oneirocrisy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oneirocrisy. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “oneirocrisy,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oneirocrisy.
Source: oneirocrisy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.