sortes

S1O1R1T1E1S1

noun

divination, or the seeking of guidance, by chance selection of a passage in the Bible or another text regarded as authoritative.

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Meanings

nounsortes pl (plural only)
  1. pluralplural onlydivination, or the seeking of guidance, by chance selection of a passage in the Bible or another text regarded as authoritative.

    Book oracles, called sortes (from the Latin sors = lot, indicating that one would obtain the answers by casting lots), allowed for consultation on the spot; the oracle could even come to the petitioner!

    2014, AnneMarie Luijendijk, “Introduction”, in Forbidden Oracles? The Gospel of the Lots of Mary (Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum / Studies and Texts in Antiquity and Christianity; 89), Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebek, →ISBN, page 3

Origin

From Latin plural of sors (“lot, fate, oracular response”).

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Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

tosserSostreretoss
Cite this entry
APA

sortes. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sortes

MLA

“sortes.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sortes. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sortes,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sortes.

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