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haruspex

 [huh-ruhs-peks, har-uh-speks]   Origin

ha·rus·pex

   [huh-ruhs-peks, har-uh-speks]
noun, plural ha·rus·pi·ces  [huh-ruhs-puh-seez] .
(in ancient Rome) one of a class of minor priests who practiced divination, especially from the entrails of animals killed in sacrifice.
Also, aruspex.

Origin:
1575–85; < Latin, equivalent to haru- (akin to hīra intestine; see chord1) + spec- (stem of specere to look at) + -s nominative singular ending
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Haruspex is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
haruspex (həˈrʌspɛks)
 
—n , pl haruspices
(in ancient Rome) a priest who practised divination, esp by examining the entrails of animals
 
[C16: from Latin, probably from hīra gut + specere to look]
 
haruspical
 
—adj
 
haruspicy
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

haruspex
1584, from L. "soothsayer by means of entrails," first element related to L. hernia "rupture," Gk. khorde "gut," Skt. hira "entrails;" second element from L. spic- "beholding, inspecting" (see inspect). The practice is Etruscan.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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