haruspex

[ huh-ruhs-peks, har-uh-speks ]
See synonyms for haruspex on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural ha·rus·pi·ces [huh-ruhs-puh-seez]. /həˈrʌs pəˌsiz/.
  1. (in ancient Rome) one of a class of minor priests who practiced divination, especially from the entrails of animals killed in sacrifice.

Origin of haruspex

1
First recorded in 1575–85; from Latin, equivalent to haru- (akin to hīra “intestine”; see chord1) + spec- (stem of specere “to look at”) + -s nominative singular ending
  • Also a·rus·pex [uh-ruhs-peks] /əˈrʌs pɛks/ .

Words Nearby haruspex

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use haruspex in a sentence

  • Cato, the Censor, is on record as saying "that he wondered how one haruspex could look another in the face without laughing!"

    Wind and Weather | Alexander McAdie
  • "Hatred speaks in thee," said the haruspex, interrupting the indignant old man.

    Uarda, Complete | Georg Ebers
  • Thereupon, Roman haruspex looked into the eyes of Roman haruspex, and they both laughed.

    The House of Mystery | William Henry Irwin
  • The haruspex submitted, though deeply vexed, and asked whether the guilty boys were also to go unpunished.

    Uarda, Complete | Georg Ebers
  • No Etruscan haruspex or Roman augur could wish for clearer omens: it reads like a page of Livy.

British Dictionary definitions for haruspex

haruspex

/ (həˈrʌspɛks) /


nounplural haruspices (həˈrʌspɪˌsiːz)
  1. (in ancient Rome) a priest who practised divination, esp by examining the entrails of animals

Origin of haruspex

1
C16: from Latin, probably from hīra gut + specere to look

Derived forms of haruspex

  • haruspical (həˈrʌspɪkəl), adjective
  • haruspicy (həˈrʌspɪsɪ), noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012