Meanings
- uncountableDivination with wands or rods, especially to use a divining rod to find things below the ground.
This question of buried treasure exercised the minds of ancient occultists considerably, and in connection with it there was frequently employed the art of Rhabdomancy, which was similar to that of water divining or water "dousing".
1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 145Synonyms: dowsing
Synonyms & antonyms
nounDivination with wands or rods, especially to use a divining rod to find things below the ground.
More synonyms by meaning
nounsearching for underground water or minerals by using a dowsing rod
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekῥαβδομαντεία
- Latinrhabdomantīa
- Englishrhabdomancy
From rhabdo- + -mancy, first attested in 1646. From Latin rhabdomantīa, from Ancient Greek ῥαβδομαντεία (rhabdomanteía), from ῥάβδος (rhábdos, “rod”) + μαντεία (manteía, “divination”).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ῥαβδομαντεία
- ῥαβδομαντεία (rhabdomanteía)divination with wands and rods
Catalan rabdomància
- rabdomànciadivination with wands and rods
German Rhabdomantie, Stabwahrsagerei
- Rhabdomantiedivination with wands and rods
- Stabwahrsagereidivination with wands and rods
Greek ραβδομαντεία
- ραβδομαντεία (ravdomanteía)divination with wands and rods
Italian rabdomanzia
- rabdomanziadivination with wands and rods
Romanian rabdomanție
- rabdomanțiedivination with wands and rods
Spanish rabdomancia
- rabdomanciadivination with wands and rods
Cite this entry
rhabdomancy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rhabdomancy
“rhabdomancy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rhabdomancy. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rhabdomancy,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rhabdomancy.
Source: rhabdomancy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.