noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Divination by interpreting swords, daggers and knives. This was popular in Scotland where on July 31st it was performed to predict the deaths and marriages of the following year. uncountable

   "1652, Gaule The Magastromancer xix. Macharomancy, by knives or swords […]"

Example

More examples

"1652, Gaule The Magastromancer xix. Macharomancy, by knives or swords […]"

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μαχαίρα (makhaíra, “dagger”) + -mancy.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.