archaeastronomy

Archaeoastronomy is an endeavor to find out something about ancient astronomy and related matters through the use of archeological data and the study of ancient texts.

1979, John Howland Rowe, “Review: Archaeoastronomy in Meso America and Peru”, in Latin American Research Review, volume 14, number 2, page 227:

The current fashion is to call the subject archaeoastronomy, as if it were more the business of astronomers or historians of astronomy than of archaeologists.

1989, John Michell, A Little History of Astro-Archaeology, page 6:

(astronomy, archaeology) The historical, especially archeological, study of astronomy; the study of the astronomical systems and methods of ancient cultures often embracing the astrology and cosmology of the past.


taghairm

en-noun

taghairm (usually uncountable, plural taghairms)

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic taghairm, from Old Irish togairm, from Proto-Celtic *to-garrman, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵh₂r̥-smn̥, from *ǵeh₂r- (“to call, to shout”); compare Irish toghairm (“an invocation, a summons”), from gairm, gair (“to call; to invoke”), ultimately from the same Proto-Indo-European roots.
The Encyclopædia Britannica (3rd ed., 1797) suggests a derivation from Scottish Gaelic ta (“a ghost, a spirit”) + gairm (“to call, to cry”), while the editor of an 1871 edition of Sir Walter Scott’s The Lady of the Lake suggested tarbh (“a bull”) or targair (“to foretell”). These etymologies are no longer to be taken seriously.

cog

There were different kinds of taghairm, of which one was very lately practiſed in Sky. The diviner covered himſelf with a cow's hide, and repaired at night to ſome deep-ſounding cave, whither the perſon who conſulted him followed ſoon after without any attendants. At the mouth of the cave he propoſed aloud the queſtions of which he wanted ſolutions; and the man within pronounced the reſponſes in a tone of voice ſimilar to that which the obs, or pretended dæmons of antiquity, gave from beneath the ground their oracular anſwers. That in the latter days of taghairm the Gaelic diviners pretended to evocate ghoſts, and from them to extort ſolutions of difficulties propoſed, we have no poſitive evidence; […]

1797, “NECROMANCY”, in Encyclopædia Britannica; or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature; [...] In Eighteen Volumes, 3rd greatly enlarged edition, volume XII, Edinburgh: Printed for A[ndrew] Bell and C[olin] Macfarquhar, →OCLC, page 787, column 2:

[page 146] [L]ast evening-tide / Brian an augury hath tried, / Of that dread kind which must not be / Unless in dread extremity, / The Taghairm called; by which, afar, / Our sires foresaw the events of war. / Duncraggan's milk-white bull they slew, […] [page lxv] Notes to Canto Fourth. Note I. […] The Highlanders, like all rude people, had various superstitious modes of enquiring into futurity. One of the most noted was the Taghairm, mentioned in the text. A person was wrapped in the skin of a newly slain bullock, and deposited beside a water-fall, or at the bottom of a precipice, or in some other strange, wild, and unusual situation, where the scenery around him suggested nothing but objects of horror. In this situation he revolved in his mind the question proposed, and whatever was impressed upon him by his exalted imagination, passed for the inspiration of the disembodied spirits, who haunt these desolate recesses.

1810, Walter Scott, “Canto IV. The Prophecy.”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William Miller, →OCLC, stanza IV, pages 146 and lxv:

A country where such traditions could pass current, and in which more unfortunate creatures, perhaps, passed to death through the torturing fire for the imaginary crime of witchcraft under laws framed and administered in the spirit of Moloch himself, then suffered on the same accursed account in any region of similar extent, was a soil well calculated to cherish the Taghairm and Second Sight. […] Those who slept on the skin of the sacrificial lamb at the temple of Amphiaraus, expectant of visions, were, in truth, trying the augury of the Taghairm; […]

1844 December, Gideon Shaddoe, “Recollections and Reflections of Gideon Shaddoe, Esq. No. VI.”, in [Thomas Hood], editor, Hood's Magazine and Comic Miscellany, volume II, number XII, London: Published for the proprietors, by H. Renshaw, 356. Strand; and sold by all booksellers, →OCLC, page 603:

In the taghairm the seer was bound in an animal's hide and left by the waters, the spirits of which inspired his dreams[…]. The hide was probably that of a sacrificial animal.

1911, J[ohn] A[rnott] MacCulloch, “CELTS”, in James Hastings, editor, Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics, volumes III (Burial–Confessions), New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner's Sons; London: T. & T. Clark, →OCLC, page 300, column 2:

(historical, Scotland) An ancient divination method of the Highland Scots involving animal sacrifice.

A method of divination involving wrapping a person in the hide of a freshly-killed ox which was then placed beside a waterfall or other desolate place, to enable the person to foresee the outcome of an impending battle; the oracle of the hide.


gnosis

en-noun

gnosis (countable and uncountable, plural gnoses)

From Ancient Greek γνῶσις (gnôsis, “knowledge”).

der

(occult) An altered state of awareness in which the will is magically effective.


conjunction

en-noun

conjunction (countable and uncountable, plural conjunctions)

/kənˈd͡ʒʌŋk.ʃən/

From Old French conjonction, from Latin coniūnctiō (“joining”), from coniungere (“to join”).

(astrology) An aspect in which planets are in close proximity to one another.


AA

en:Alcoholics Anonymous
en:Anna's Archive
en:The AA

In Magic in Theory and Practice, Crowley explains his other Order, the Silver Star (Argentinum Astrum), which certainly does have such a degree. The AA is a totally secret occult organization in which any member should know only the person who initiated him or her and those whom he or she has initiated.

1999, James R. Lewis, Witchcraft Today: An Encyclopedia of Wiccan and Neopagan Traditions, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 219:


book

Sranan Tongo: buku

Tok Pisin: buk
→ Rotokas: vuku

→ Chichewa: buku

→ Hawaiian: puke

→ Malagasy: boky

→ Maori: pukapuka (with reduplication)

→ Marshallese: bok

→ Motu: buka

→ Malagasy: boky

→ Shona: bhuku

→ Somali: buugga

i

possibly also from Afrikaans <i class="Latn mention" lang="af">boek</i>

→ Sotho: buka (possibly also from Afrikaans boek)

→ Zulu: ibhuku (possibly also from Afrikaans boek)

From Middle English bok, book, from Old English bōc, from Proto-West Germanic *bōk, from Proto-Germanic *bōks. Eclipsed non-native Middle English livret, lyveret (“book, booklet”) from Old French livret (“book, booklet”). Bookmaker sense by clipping.

buck (without the foot-strut split, most accents)

have more chins than a Chinese phone book

why buy a book when you can join a library

why buy a book when you can join the library

(cartomancy) The twenty-sixth Lenormand card.


planet

From Middle English planete, from Old French planete, from Latin planeta, planetes, from Ancient Greek πλανήτης (planḗtēs, “wanderer”) (ellipsis of πλάνητες ἀστέρες (plánētes astéres, “wandering stars”).), from Ancient Greek πλανάω (planáō, “wander about, stray”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Latin pālor (“wander about, stray”), Old Norse flana (“to rush about”), and Norwegian flanta (“to wander about”). More at flaunt. So-called because they have apparent motion, unlike the "fixed" stars. Originally included also the moon and the sun but not Earth; modern scientific sense of "world that orbits a star" is from 1630s in English. The Greek word is an enlarged form of πλάνης (plánēs, “who wanders around, wanderer”), also "wandering star, planet", in medicine "unstable temperature".

ellipsis of

πλάνητες ἀστέρες

der

Be they not dreames of humane vanity,[…]to make of our knowne earth a bright shining planet [translating astre]?

1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 260:

The moon[…]began to rise from her bed, where she had slumbered away the day, in order to sit up all night. Jones had not travelled far before he paid his compliments to that beautiful planet, and, turning to his companion, asked him if he had ever beheld so delicious an evening?

1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 288:

Another of Boehme's followers, the Welshman Morgan Llwyd, also believed that the seven planets could be found within man.

1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 361:

(now historical or astrology) Each of the seven major bodies which move relative to the fixed stars in the night sky—the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

апланета

each of the seven major bodies which move relative to the fixed stars in the night sky


star

Sranan Tongo: stari
Aukan: sitali

→ Finnish: stara

→ French: star

→ German: Star

→ Italian: star

→ Swahili: staa

From Middle English sterre, from Old English steorra (“star”), from Proto-West Germanic *sterrō, variant of *sternō, from Proto-Germanic *sternô, *sternǭ (“star”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (“star”). Doublet of aster, stella, étoile, and estoile.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots starn, ster, North Frisian steer, West Frisian stjer, Saterland Frisian Stiern, Dutch ster, Luxembourgish Stär, German Stern, Yiddish שטערן (shtern), Vilamovian śtaom, Swedish stjärna, Norwegian stjerne, Icelandic stjarna, Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐍉 (stairnō), Spanish estrella, Portuguese estrela, Italian stella, Romanian stea, Occitan estela, Venetian stéła, Sicilian stidda, Sardinian isteddu, Mirandese streilha, Walloon sitoele, Romansch staila, Megleno-Romanian steau̯ă, Istriot stila, Istro-Romanian ste, Latin stēlla, Greek αστέρι (astéri), Ancient Greek ἀστήρ (astḗr), Old Armenian աստղ (astł), Persian ستاره (setâre), Tajik ситора (sitora), Pashto ستوری (storay), Mazanderani اساره (ëssâre), Northern Kurdish stêr, Central Kurdish ئەستێرە (estêre), Zazaki astare, Ossetian стъалы (st’aly), Hindi तारा (tārā), Urdu تارا (tārā), Punjabi ਤਾਰਾ (tārā), Gujarati તારો (tāro), Sanskrit तारा (tārā).

аеҵǝа

a celestial body appearing as a point of light on the clear night sky, whose position is relatively fixed with respect to each other

What's in the stars for you today? Find out in our horoscope.

But O malignant and ill-boading Starres,[…]

1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v], page 112, column 2:

Men bless their stars and call it luxury.

1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC:

But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud,[…]. By the time we reached the house we were thanking our stars she had come.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, pages 69–70:

(astrology) A planet supposed to influence one's destiny.


hemisphere

/ˈhɛmɪsfɪəɹ/

From Latin hemisphaerium, from Ancient Greek ἡμισφαίριον (hēmisphaírion), from ἡμι- (hēmi-, “half”) + σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “sphere”). Equivalent to hemi- + sphere. Displaced native Old English healftrendel (literally “half-sphere”).

ncog

(astronomy, astrology) Half of the celestial sphere, as divided by either the ecliptic or the celestial equator .

terrestrial hemisphere

geography: half of the terrestrial sphere


world

whirled (with both the wine–whine merger and fern–fir–fur merger)

whorled (with both mergers, Received Pronunciation only)

From Middle English world, weoreld, from Old English weorold (“world”), from Proto-West Germanic *weraldi, from Proto-Germanic *weraldiz (“lifetime, human existence, world”, literally “age/era of man”), equivalent to wer (“man”) + eld (“age”).
Cognate with Scots warld (“world”), Saterland Frisian Waareld (“world”), West Frisian wrâld (“world”), Afrikaans wêreld (“world”), Dutch wereld (“world”), Low German Werld (“world”), German Welt (“world”), Norwegian Bokmål verden (“(the) world”), Norwegian Nynorsk verd (“world”), Swedish värld (“world”), Icelandic veröld (“world”).

inh

an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind

have the world by the tail on a downhill pull

the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world

the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

(tarot) The twenty-second trump or major arcana card of the tarot.


cast

en-verb

cast (third-person singular simple present casts, present participle casting, simple past and past participle cast or (nonstandard) casted)

casts (present singular third-person)
casting (participle present)
cast (participle past)
cast (past)
casted (nonstandard participle past)
casted (nonstandard past)
cast (infinitive)

Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *kas-
Proto-Germanic *kastōną
Old Norse kastabor.
Middle English casten
English cast
From Middle English casten, from Old Norse kasta (“to throw, cast, overturn”), from Proto-Germanic *kastōną (“to throw, cast”), of unknown origin.
Cognate with Scots cast (“to cast, throw”), Danish kaste (“to throw”), Swedish kasta (“to throw, cast, fling, toss, discard”), Icelandic kasta (“to pitch, toss”). In the sense of "flinging", displaced native warp.
The senses relating to broadcasting are based on that same term; compare -cast.

cog

let he who is without sin cast the first stone

let him that is without sin cast the first stone

let him who is without sin cast the first stone

he is […] a perfect astrologer, that can cast the rise and fall of others, and mark their errant motions to his own use.

, vol.1, New York Review of Books, 2001, p.309

John Gadbury confessed that Mrs Cellier, ‘the Popish Midwife’, had asked him to cast the King's nativity, although the astrology claimed to have refused to do so.

1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 332:

He did the washing up and stayed behind to watch the dinner cook while she hopped off with a friend to have her horoscope cast by another friend.

1985, Lawrence Durrell, Quinx, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p.1197

(social) To predict, to decide, to plan.

(astrology) To calculate the astrological value of (a horoscope, birth etc.).

laatia

astrology: to calculate the astrological value of

(Wicca) To open a circle in order to begin a spell or meeting of witches.


age

en-noun

age (countable and uncountable, plural ages)

From Middle English age, Old French aage, eage, edage, from an assumed Vulgar Latin *aetāticum, derived from Latin aetātem, itself derived from aevum (“lifetime”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“vital force”). Compare French âge.
Displaced native Old English ieldu.

eld

period (in years or otherwise) something has been alive

Mr Lewis says we are living in the age of Aquarius, which means that the world is at present passing through the zodiacal sign of Aquarius, the airy constellation.

1911 April 10, The Evening News, Sydney, page 8, column 2:

(astrology) One of the twelve divisions of a Great Year, equal to roughly 2000 years and goverened by one of the zodiacal signs; a Platonic month.


sun

en-noun

sun (countable and uncountable, plural suns)

From Middle English sonne, sunne, from Old English sunne, from Proto-West Germanic *sunnā, from Proto-Germanic *sunnǭ, from heteroclitic inanimate Proto-Indo-European *sh₂wen-, oblique of Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“sun”). See also Saterland Frisian Sunne, West Frisian sinne, German Low German Sünn, Dutch zon, German Sonne, Icelandic sunna; outside of Germanic, Welsh huan, Sanskrit स्वर् (svar), Avestan 𐬓𐬇𐬧𐬔 (xᵛə̄ṇg)). Related to sol, Sol, Surya, and Helios. More at solar.

sure as the sun is going to come up tomorrow morning

sure as the sun is going to rise tomorrow morning

think the sun shines out of someone's arse

think the sun shines out of someone's ass

think the sun shines out of someone's backside

think the sun shines out of someone's butt

(cartomancy) The thirty-first Lenormand card.


angle

From Middle English angle, angul, angule, borrowed from Middle French angle, from Latin angulus, anglus (“corner, remote area”). Cognate with Old High German ancha (“nape of the neck”), Middle High German anke (“joint of the foot, nape of neck”). Doublet of angulus and ankle.

cog

(astrology) Any of the four cardinal points of an astrological chart: the Ascendant, the Midheaven, the Descendant and the Imum Coeli.


square

→ Welsh: sgwâr

From Middle English square, sqware, squyre; from Old French esquarre, esquerre, (modern French équerre), from Vulgar Latin *exquadra, from Latin ex- + quadro, from quadrus (compare English quad and quadra). Doublet of squad and squadra.
Displaced fēowerecge (fēower nominative + ecg accusative, as in "four-edged").

(astrology) The position of planets distant ninety degrees from each other; a quadrate.


square

en-verb

square (third-person singular simple present squares, present participle squaring, simple past and past participle squared)

squares (present singular third-person)
squaring (participle present)
squared (participle past)
squared (past)

подравнявам

to adjust so as to align with or place at a right angle

jalustaa poikittain

nautical: to place at right angles with the keel

the icy Goat, the Crab that square the Scales

1697, Thomas Creech, The five books of M. Manilius containing a system of the ancient astronomy and astrology, done into English verse:

(astrology) To hold a quartile position respecting.

olla suorassa kulmassa ... nähden

astrology: to hold a quartile position respecting


handfast

handfast (third-person singular simple present handfasts, present participle handfasting, simple past and past participle handfasted)

handfasts (present singular third-person)
handfasting (participle present)
handfasted (participle past)
handfasted (past)

From Middle English hondfast, past participle of Middle English hondfesten (“to betroth”), from Old Norse handfesta (“to strike a bargain, pledge”), itself from hönd (“hand”) + festa (“to fasten, fix, affirm”), perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European root *pHst-.

der

No, Sir Priest or Sir Preacher, Catherine is not my wife— […] she is not my wife, but she is handfasted with me, and that makes her as honest a woman. [...] When we are handfasted, as we term it, we are man and wife for a year and a day—that space gone by, each may chuse another mate, or, at their pleasure, may call the priest to marry them for life—and this we call handfasting.

1820 March, [Walter Scott], chapter XI, in The Monastery. A Romance. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Co., and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, pages 311–312:

Would the lass but consent to go abroad in the unhallowed place at this awful season and hour of the night, she was as firmly handfasted to the Devil as if she had signed a bond with her own blood; […]

1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

(transitive, Scotland, archaic or historical except Wicca) To betroth by joining hands, in order to allow for cohabitation before the celebration of marriage; to marry provisionally.


tower

→ German: Tower

→ Hindi: टावर (ṭāvar)

→ Japanese: タワー (tawā)

→ Korean: 타워 (tawo)

→ Northern Kurdish: tawer

→ Punjabi: ਟਾਵਰ (ṭāvar)

From Middle English tour, tur, tor, from Old English tūr, tor, torr ("tower; rock"; > English tor) and Old French tour, toer, tor; both from Latin turris (“a tower”), Ancient Greek τύρρις (túrrhis) (Hesychius), τύρσις (túrsis).
Compare Scots tour, towr, towre (“tower”), West Frisian toer (“tower”), Dutch toren (“tower”), German Turm (“tower”), Danish tårn (“tower”), Swedish torn (“tower”), Icelandic turn (“tower”), Welsh tŵr.
Doublet of tor, tourelle, and turret.

(cartomancy) The nineteenth Lenormand card, representing structure, bureaucracy, stability and loneliness.


MC

en-noun

MC (countable and uncountable, plural MCs or MC's)

(astrology) Initialism of medium coeli, the midheaven or highest point in the sky. Contrasted to Imum Coeli.


child

child (plural children or (dialectal or archaic) childer)

children (plural)
childer (archaic dialectal plural)

adult

antonym(s) of “person below the age of adulthood”

parent

antonym(s) of “data item, process or object in a subordinate role”

From Middle English child, from Old English ċild, from Proto-West Germanic *kilþ, *kelþ, from Proto-Germanic *kelþaz (“womb; fetus”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵelt- (“womb”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to ball up, amass”).
Cognate with Danish kuld (“brood, litter”), Swedish kull (“brood, litter”), Icelandic kelta, kjalta (“lap”), Gothic 𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌸𐌴𐌹 (kilþei, “womb”), Sanskrit जर्त (jarta), जर्तु (jártu, “vulva”).

der

[ˈt͡ʃaɪ̯.ɫ̩d]

offspring and Thesaurus:son and Thesaurus:daughter

call someone everything but a child of God

it is a wise child that knows his own father

(cartomancy) The thirteenth Lenormand card.


moon

Sranan Tongo: mun

Tok Pisin: mun

Torres Strait Creole: mun

From Middle English mone, from Old English mōna (“moon”), from Proto-West Germanic *mānō, from Proto-Germanic *mēnô (“moon”), from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon, month”), probably from *meh₁- (“to measure”).
cognates and doublets
Cognate with Scots mone, mune, muin (“moon”), North Frisian muun (“moon”), Saterland Frisian Moune (“moon”), West Frisian moanne (“moon”), Dutch maan (“moon”), German Mond (“moon”), Danish måne (“moon”), Norwegian Bokmål måne (“moon”), Norwegian Nynorsk måne (“moon”), Swedish måne (“moon”), Faroese máni (“moon”), Icelandic máni (“moon”), Latin mēnsis (“month”). See also month, a related term within Indo-European.

inh

(cartomancy) The thirty-second Lenormand card.


tree

Jamaican Creole: chrii

[t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔ʷɪi̯]

From Middle English tre, tree, treo, treou, trew, trow, from Old English trēo, trēow (“tree, wood, timber, beam, log, stake, stick, grove, cross, rood”), from Proto-West Germanic *treu, from Proto-Germanic *trewą (“tree, wood”), from pre-Germanic *dréwom, thematic e-grade derivative of Proto-Indo-European *dóru (“tree”).
Cognates
From the same Proto-Indo-European: Scots tree (“wood, rod, stick”), North Frisian tre, trä (“tree”), Middle Dutch tree > Dutch teer (“tree”), Danish træ (“tree”), Swedish trä (“wood”), träd (“tree”), Norwegian tre (“tree”), Icelandic tré (“tree”), Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌿 (triu, “tree, wood, piece of wood”), Sanskrit दारु (dāru, “tree, wood”), Albanian dru (“tree, wood”), Welsh dâr (“oaks”), Ancient Greek δόρυ (dóru, “wood, spear”), Russian де́рево (dérevo) or дре́во (drévo), Tocharian A or. Related to tar, true.

cog

fall out of the ugly tree and hit every branch

the apple does not fall far from the tree

the apple doesn't fall far from the tree


fish

en-noun

fish (countable and uncountable, plural fish or fishes)

Sranan Tongo: fisi

→ Chinook Jargon: pish

→ Finnish: fisu

→ Zulu: ufishi

From Middle English fisch, from Old English fisċ (“fish”), from Proto-West Germanic *fisk, from Proto-Germanic *fiskaz (“fish”) (compare West Frisian fisk, Dutch vis, German Fisch, Danish fisk, Norwegian fisk, Swedish fisk, Icelandic fiskur), from Proto-Indo-European *peysk- (“fish”) (compare Irish iasc, Latin piscis).

a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle

a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle

give a man a fish and you feed him for a day

teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime

neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring

neither fish nor flesh, nor good red herring

the cat would eat fish but would not wet her feet

what does that have to do with the price of fish

(cartomancy) The thirty-fourth Lenormand card.


snake

→ Maori: neke

→ Sranan Tongo: sneki

From Middle English snake, from Old English snaca (“snake, serpent, reptile”), from Proto-West Germanic *snakō (“snake”) (compare German Low German Snake, Snaak (“snake”), dialectal German Schnake (“adder”), Swedish snok (“grass snake”), Icelandic snákur (“snake”)), derived via Proto-Germanic *snakô from Proto-Germanic *snakaną (“to crawl”) (compare Old High German snahhan), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neg- (“to crawl; a creeping thing”). Cognate with Sanskrit नाग (nāgá, “snake”)). Doublet of nāga.

der

(cartomancy) The seventh Lenormand card.


path

From Middle English path, peth, from Old English pæþ (“path, track”), from Proto-West Germanic *paþ, from Proto-Germanic *paþaz (“path”) (compare West Frisian paad, Dutch pad, German Pfad), Ancient Greek πατέω (patéō) / πάτος (pátos), from Iranian (compare Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬥𐬙𐬀 (panta, “way”), 𐬞𐬀𐬚𐬀 (paθa, genitive), Old Persian [script needed] (pathi-)), from Proto-Iranian *pántaHh, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *pántaHs (compare Sanskrit पन्था (panthā), पथ (patha)), from Proto-Indo-European *póntoh₁s, from *pent- (“path”) (compare English find). Doublet of panth.

(paganism) A Pagan tradition, for example witchcraft, Wicca, druidism, Heathenry.


maiden

From Middle English mayden, meiden, from Old English mæġden (“girl”), originally a diminutive of mæġeþ (“girl”) via diminutive suffix -en, from Proto-West Germanic *magaþ, from Proto-Germanic *magaþs. Equivalent to maid + -en.


coven

From Middle English covent, from Anglo-Norman covent, cuvent, from Old French covent, from Latin conventum, from conveniō, from cum (“with”) and venio (“I come”). Doublet of convent.

“This is a very African area”, he said as they maneuvered their way among the covens of menacing children gathered in the halls.

1986, David Leavitt, The Lost Language of Cranes (paperback), Penguin, page 12:

A clique that shares common interests or activities.


bear

en-noun

bear (countable and uncountable, plural bears)

Belizean Creole: byaa

→ Hawaiian: pea

→ Irish: béar

→ Maori: pea

→ Niuean: pea

→ Tahitian: pea

→ Tokelauan: pea

→ Wallisian: pea

→ Xhosa: ibhere

From Middle English bere, from Old English bera, from Proto-West Germanic *berō, from Proto-Germanic *berô (compare West Frisian bear, Dutch beer, German Bär, Danish bjørn).
etymology notes
This is generally taken to be from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“shining, brown”) (compare Tocharian A parno, Tocharian B perne (“radiant, luminous”), Lithuanian bė́ras (“brown”)), related to brown, bruin, and beaver.
On this theory, the Germanic languages replaced the older name of the bear, *h₂ŕ̥tḱos, with the epithet "brown one", presumably due to taboo avoidance; compare Russian медве́дь (medvédʹ, “bear”, literally “honey-eater”).
However, Ringe (2006:106) doubts the existence of a root *bʰer- meaning "brown" ("an actual PIE word of [the requisite] shape and meaning is not recoverable") and suggests that a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰwer- (“wild animal”) "should therefore perhaps be preferred", implying a Germanic merger of *ǵʰw and *gʷʰ (*gʷʰ may sometimes result in Germanic *b, perhaps e.g. in *bidjaną, but it also seems to have given the g in gun and the w in warm).

der

don't sell the skin till you have caught the bear

sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you

(cartomancy) The fifteenth Lenormand card.


arcane

en-adj

arcane (comparative more arcane, superlative most arcane)

more arcane (comparative)
most arcane (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin arcānus (“hidden, secret”), from arceō (“to shut up, enclose”); cognate with Latin arca (“a chest”).

arcane origins

arcane details


spell

From Middle English spell, spel, from Old English spell (“news, story”), from Proto-Germanic *spellą (“speech, account, tale”), from Proto-Indo-European *spel- (“to tell”) or from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to speak, to sound”) with the s-mobile prefix. Cognate with dialectal German Spill, Icelandic spjall (“discussion, talk”), spjalla (“to discuss, to talk”), guðspjall (“gospel”) and Albanian fjalë (“word”).

der

hoa- (prefix with various attachments for various purposes)

under a spell

Skies are not so black / Mary took me back / Mary has broken your spell

1962, Marty Robbins (lyrics and music), “Devil Woman”:

I believe your love has placed its spell on me

2020, Deftones, The Spell of Mathematics:

A magical effect or influence induced by an incantation or formula.


spell

en-verb

spell (third-person singular simple present spells, present participle spelling, simple past and past participle spelled)

spells (present singular third-person)
spelling (participle present)
spelled (participle past)
spelled (past)

Vnchaine your spirits now with spelling Charmes,

1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 115, column 2:

[…] although the Kings Jealousie was thus particular to her, his Affection was as general to others […] Above all, for a time he was much speld with Elianor Talbot […]

1647, George Buck, The History and Life and Reigne of Richard the Third, London, Book 4, p. 116:

1697, John Dryden (translator), Georgics, Book 3 in The Works of Virgil, London: Jacob Tonson, p. 109, lines 444-446,
This, gather’d in the Planetary Hour,
With noxious Weeds, and spell’d with Words of pow’r
Dire Stepdames in the Magick Bowl infuse;

But when, O Wells! thy roses came to me
My sense with their deliciousness was spell’d:

1817, John Keats, “To a Friend who sent me some Roses”, in Poems, London: C. & J. Ollier, page 83:

To put under the influence of a spell; to affect by a spell; to bewitch; to fascinate; to charm.


spell

→ Welsh: sbel

From Middle English spelen, from Old English spelian (“to represent, take or stand in the place of another, act as a representative of another”), akin to Middle English spale (“a rest or break”), Old English spala (“representative, substitute”).

cog

Even Mrs. Harker seems to lose sight of her trouble for whole spells. [...] When he had spoken, Mina's long spell of silence made me look at her.

1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 24, in Dracula, HTML edition:

So after a short spell in the brass foundry the wisest course was to follow with a similar period in the steel foundry, where much important work was done, including the manufacture of centres for wheels.

1944 November and December, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 343:

[...] Class 37s became synonymous with the depot, and over the years more than a third of the class had a spell allocated to the shed.

2020 June 17, John Crosse, “Thornaby's traction transition”, in Rail, page 65:

(colloquial) An indefinite period of time (usually with a qualifier); by extension, a relatively short distance.


circle

Pitcairn-Norfolk: sirkil

From Middle English circle, cercle, from Old French cercle and Latin circulus, diminutive of Latin circus (“circle, circus”), from Ancient Greek κίρκος (kírkos, “circle, ring”), related to Old English hring (“ring”). Compare also Old English ċircul (“circle, zodiac”), which came from the same Latin source.

دَائِرَة

geometry: set of all points in a plane within a radius

(Wicca) A ritual circle that is cast three times deosil and closes three times widdershins either in the air with a wand or literally with stones or other items used for worship.


spread

en-noun

spread (countable and uncountable, plural spreads)

From Middle English spreden, from Old English sprǣdan (“to spread, expand”), from Proto-Germanic *spraidijaną (“to spread”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to strew, sow, sprinkle”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian spreede (“to spread”), West Frisian spriede (“to spread”), North Frisian spriedjen (“to spread”), Dutch spreiden (“to spread”), Low German spreden (“to spread”), German spreiten (“to spread, spread out”), Norwegian spre, spreie (“to spread, disseminate”), Swedish sprida (“to spread”), Latin spernō, spargō, Ancient Greek σπείρω (speírō), Persian سپردن (sepordan, “to deposit”), English spurn.

cog

(cartomancy) A layout, pattern or design of cards arranged for a reading.


stork

From Middle English stork, from Old English storc, from Proto-West Germanic *stork, from Proto-Germanic *sturkaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sr̥ǵos (“stork”). Near cognates include Dutch stork, German Storch, Swedish stork, and Icelandic storkur. Compare also Latvian stārķis (“stork”), borrowed from Germanic.

(cartomancy) The seventeenth Lenormand card.


anchor

→ Chuukese: angko

From Middle English anker, from Old English ancor, ancra, from Latin ancora, from (or cognate with) Ancient Greek ἄγκυρα (ánkura). The modern form is a sixteenth-century modification after the Medieval Latin spelling anchora. Doublet of ancora and anker.

(cartomancy) The thirty-fifth Lenormand card.


control

en-noun

control (countable and uncountable, plural controls)

From Middle English controllen, from Old French contrerole, from Medieval Latin contrārotulum (“a counter-roll or register used to verify accounts”), from Latin contrā (“against, opposite”) + Medieval Latin rotulus, Latin rotula (“roll, a little wheel”), diminutive of rota (“a wheel”).

der

"Ah, who are they? I wonder. Guides, controls, psychic entities of some kind. Who the agents of vengeance - or I should say justice - are, is really not essential."

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

(spiritualism, parapsychology) A spirit that takes possession of a psychic or medium and allows other spirits to communicate with the living.


balance

en-noun

balance (countable and uncountable, plural balances)

bias

antonym(s) of “support for both viewpoints”

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English balaunce, from Old French balance, from Late Latin *bilancia, from (accusative form of) Latin bilanx (“two-scaled”), from bi- + lanx (“plate, scale”).


empress

From Middle English emperice, emperesse, from Anglo-Norman and Old French empereriz, from Latin imperatrix, equivalent to emperor + -ess. Doublet of imperatrix. Compare modern French impératrice.

(tarot) The third trump or major arcana card of most tarot decks.


emperor

From Middle English emperour, from Anglo-Norman emperour, from Latin imperātorem, derived from imperāre (“to command”). Doublet of imperator.

(tarot) The fourth trump or major arcana card of the tarot deck.


ring

→ French: ring
→ Romanian: ring

→ Hungarian: ring

→ Italian: ring

→ Japanese: リング

→ Polish: ring

→ Serbo-Croatian: ring

→ Spanish: ring

→ Turkish: ring

From Middle English ryng, from Old English hring (“ring, circle”), from Proto-West Germanic *hring, from Proto-Germanic *hringaz (“ring”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)krengʰ-, extended nasalized form of *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”). Doublet of rank and rink.
cognates
* West Frisian ring
* Low German Ring
* Dutch ring
* German Ring
* Swedish ring
* Finnish rengas

(cartomancy) The twenty-fifth Lenormand card.


mountain

mountain (countable and uncountable, plural mountains)

[ˈmãʊ̯̃(n)ʔn̩]

[ˈmæ̃ʊ̯̃(n)ʔn̩]

From Middle English mountayne, mountain, montaigne, from Anglo-Norman muntaine, muntaigne, from Early Medieval Latin montānia, a collective based on Latin montem (“mountain”), from Proto-Indo-European *monti (compare Welsh mynydd (“mountain”), Albanian mat (“bank, shore”), Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬙𐬌 (mati, “promontory”)), from *men- (“to project, stick out”). Displaced native Old English beorg and dūn, and partially displaced non-native Old English munt, from Latin mōns (whence English mount).

(cartomancy) The twenty-first Lenormand card.


heart

heart (countable and uncountable, plural hearts)

Torres Strait Creole: at

→ Bengali: হার্ট (harṭ)

→ Cantonese: heart

→ Cebuano: Heart

→ Irish: hart

→ Japanese: ハート (hāto); ハツ (hatsu) (from hearts)

→ Korean: 하트 (hateu)

→ Tagalog: Heart

PIE word
 *ḱḗr
From Middle English herte, from Old English heorte (“heart”), from Proto-West Germanic *hertā, from Proto-Germanic *hertô (“heart”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱérd (“heart”). Doublet of cardia; see also core.
Most of the modern figurative senses (such as passion or compassion, spirit, inmost feelings, especially love, affection, and courage) were present in Old English. However, the meaning “center” dates from the early 14th century.
The verb sense “to love” is from the 1977 I ❤ NY advertising campaign.

the way to a man's heart is through his stomach

(cartomancy) The twenty-fourth Lenormand card.


house

house (countable and uncountable, plural houses or (dialectal) housen or (chiefly humorous) hice)

houses (plural)
housen (dialectal plural)
hice (humorous plural)

Chinese Pidgin English: houso

Nigerian Pidgin: haus

Tok Pisin: haus

Sranan Tongo: oso
→ Dutch: osso

→ Cantonese: house (hau¹ si²)

→ Japanese: ハウス (hausu)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH-?
Proto-Indo-European *-s?
Proto-Germanic *hūsą
Proto-West Germanic *hūs
Old English hūs
Middle English hous
English house
From Middle English hous, hus, from Old English hūs (“dwelling, shelter, house”), from Proto-West Germanic *hūs, from Proto-Germanic *hūsą (compare Scots hoose, West Frisian hûs, Dutch huis, German Haus, German Low German Huus, Danish hus, Faroese hús, Icelandic hús, Norwegian Bokmål hus, Norwegian Nynorsk hus and Swedish hus), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kews-, from *(s)kewH- (“to cover, hide”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English meson, measoun (“house”), borrowed from Old French maison (“house”). More at hose.
The uncommon plural form housen is from Middle English husen, housen. (The Old English nominative plural was simply hūs.)

huis

debating chamber for government politicians

a house divided against itself cannot stand

it takes a heap of living to make a house a home

it takes a heap o' livin' to make a house a home

it takes a lot of living to make a house a home

the call is coming from inside the house

use the master's tools to dismantle the master's house

Since there was a limited number of planets, houses and signs of the zodiac, the astrologers tended to reduce human potentialities to a set of fixed types and to postulate only a limited number of possible variations.

1971, Sir Keith Vivian Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, The Folio Society, published 2012, →ISBN, page 313:

(astrology) One of the twelve divisions of an astrological chart.

dům

astrology: one of the twelve divisions of an astrological chart


house

en-verb

house (third-person singular simple present houses, present participle housing, simple past and past participle housed)

houses (present singular third-person)
housing (participle present)
housed (participle past)
housed (past)

From Middle English housen, from Old English hūsian, from Proto-Germanic *hūsōną (“to house, live, dwell”), from the noun (see above). Compare Dutch huizen (“to live, dwell, reside”), German Low German husen (“to live, dwell, reside”), German hausen (“to live, dwell, reside”), Norwegian Nynorsk husa (“to house”), Faroese húsa (“to house”), Icelandic húsa (“to shelter, house”).

cog

Where Saturn houses.

1697, Virgil, “The First Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

(transitive, astrology) To dwell within one of the twelve astrological houses.


fox

en-noun

fox (plural foxes or (nonstandard, dialectal) foxen)

foxes (plural)
foxen (dialectal nonstandard plural)

→ Cheyenne: vóhkéso

→ Japanese: フォックス (fokkusu)

→ Maori: pōkiha

From Middle English fox, from Old English fox (“fox”), from Proto-West Germanic *fuhs, from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz (“fox”), from Proto-Indo-European *púḱsos (“the tailed one”), possibly from *puḱ- (“tail”).
Cognate with Scots fox (“fox”), West Frisian foks (“fox”), Fering-Öömrang North Frisian foos and Sölring and Heligoland fos, Dutch vos (“fox”), Low German vos (“fox”), German Fuchs (“fox”), Icelandic fóa (“fox”), Tocharian B päkā (“tail, chowrie”), Russian пух (pux, “down, fluff”), Sanskrit पुच्छ (púccha) (whence Torwali پوش (pūš, “fox”), Hindi पूंछ (pūñch, “tail”)).

inh

the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

(cartomancy) The fourteenth Lenormand card.


magician

/məˈd͡ʒɪʃən/

From Middle English magicien, from Middle French magicien.

A person who plays with or practices allegedly supernatural magic.

magjistar

practitioner of allegedly supernatural magic


key

From Middle English keye, kaye, keiȝe, from Old English cǣġ (“key, solution, experiment”) (whence also Scots key and kay (“key”)), of uncertain origin. The only sure cognates are Saterland Frisian Koai (“key”), West Frisian kaai (“key”), and North Frisian kay (“key”). Possibly from Proto-Germanic *kēgaz, *kēguz (“stake, post, pole”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵogʰ-, *ǵegʰ-, *ǵegʰn- (“branch, stake, bush”), which would make it cognate with Middle Low German kāk (“whipping post, pillory”), and perhaps to Middle Dutch keige (“javelin, spear”) and Middle Low German keie, keige (“spear”). For the semantic development, note that medieval keys were simply long poles (ending in a hook) with which a crossbar obstructing a door from the inside could be removed from the outside, by lifting it through a hole in the door. Liberman has noted, however, "The original meaning of *kaig-jo- was presumably '*pin with a twisted end.' Words with the root *kai- followed by a consonant meaning 'crooked, bent; twisted' are common only in the North Germanic languages."

шпи́лка

object used to maintain the orientation between two others

Key in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

(cartomancy) The thirty-third card of the Lenormand deck.


cardinal

en-adj

cardinal (comparative more cardinal, superlative most cardinal)

more cardinal (comparative)
most cardinal (superlative)

From Middle French cardinal, from Latin cardinālis (“pertaining to a hinge, hence applied to that on which something turns or depends, important, principal, chief”), from cardin-, cardō (“hinge”) + -ālis, adjectival suffix.

der

(astrology) Being one of the signs Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, associated with initiation, creation, and force.


garden

Sranan Tongo: dyari

→ Nafaanra: yaadi

From Middle English gardyn, garden, from Anglo-Norman gardin, from Frankish *gardin-, oblique stem of *gardō (“enclosure, yard”), from Proto-Germanic *gardô (“enclosure, garden, house”), whence also inherited English yard. (compare Old French jart alongside jardin, Medieval Latin gardīnus). Doublet of jardin.
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian gard, Low German Goorn, Dutch gaard, gaarde, German Garten, French jardin, Spanish jardín, Italian giardino, Sicilian jardinu.

tuin

piece of land outside with flowers and plants

gumno

area behind a barn for fruits and vegetables

(cartomancy) The twentieth Lenormand card.


magic

en-noun

magic (usually uncountable, plural magics)

→ Japanese: マジック (majikku)

From Middle English magik, magyk, from Old French magique (noun and adjective), from Latin magicus (adjective), magica (noun use of feminine form of magicus), from Ancient Greek μαγικός (magikós, “magical”), from μάγος (mágos, “magus”). Ultimately from Old Iranian, probably derived from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂gʰ- (“to be able to, to help; power, sorcerer”). Displaced native Old English ġealdor (survived in Middle English galder), and dwimmer.

toorkuns

use of supernatural rituals, forces etc.

toorkuns

ritual associated with supernatural magic or mysticism

And whan he shall be arrayed as I telle you / lete hym thenne doo his incantacyons & his magyke as he wyll […].

c. 1489, Foure Sonnes of Aymon, William Caxton:

But by what magique I, that here have ſtood / Four hunderd yeares (thou know’ſt how truly ſpoke), / Can now remove, think’ſt thou?

1653, William Basse, “The Metamorphosis of the Wallnut-tree of Borestall. In an Eglogue and 3 Cantos, betweene Jasper and Jefferye.”, in J[ohn] P[ayne] C[ollier], editor, The Pastorals and Other Workes of William Basse. […] (Miscellaneous Tracts, Temp. Eliz. & Jac. I), [London: s.n.], published 1870, →OCLC, canto 2, stanza 19, page 122:

The arts of magic and divination were strictly prohibited.

1781, Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, II.23:

Does not the very name stir the heart [...] with a thrill more mysterious and romantic than any allusion to the magics of Egypt or Hind?

1928, Lewis Spence, Mysteries of Britain, page viii. 192:

Conversions to the new religion […] have frequently been assisted by the view of converts that they are acquiring not just a means of otherworldly salvation, but a new and more powerful magic.

1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 23:

The application of rituals or actions, especially those based on occult knowledge, to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces in order to have some benefit from them.

The supernatural forces which are drawn on in such a ritual.

dwimmer

allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces

A conjuring trick or illusion performed to give the appearance of supernatural phenomena or powers.

աճպարարություն

illusion performed to give the appearance of magic or the supernatural


magic

a magic wand

a magic dragon

Having supernatural talents, properties or qualities attributed to magic.

سَحْرِيّ

having supernatural talents, properties or qualities


syzygy

en-noun

syzygy (countable and uncountable, plural syzygies)

From Late Latin sȳzygia (“conjunction”), from Ancient Greek συζυγία (suzugía, “union, yoke, pair”). This word was recognized as English in 1847 (in its astronomical meaning).

der

The duration of an eclipse depends on the relative positions of the sun, moon, and earth in their syzygy.

2004, Phyllis M. Lugger, William Liller, Asteroids to Quasars: A Symposium Honoring William Liller, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 67:

(astronomy, astrology) An alignment of three celestial bodies (for example, the Sun, Earth, and Moon) such that one body is directly between the other two, such as occurs at an eclipse.


influence

en-noun

influence (countable and uncountable, plural influences)

From Middle English influence, from Old French influence (“emanation from the stars affecting one's fate”), from Medieval Latin īnfluentia, from Latin īnfluēns (“flowing in”), present active participle of īnfluō (“flow into”), from in- (“in-”) + fluō (“flow”). Doublet of influenza and inflood.

der

(astrology) An element believed to determine someone's character or individual tendencies, caused by the position of the stars and planets at the time of one's birth.

invloed

(astrology) element determining someone's character or individual tendencies


supernatural

en-adj

supernatural (comparative more supernatural, superlative most supernatural)

more supernatural (comparative)
most supernatural (superlative)

/ˌsupɚˈnæt͡ʃɚəl/

/ˌsupɚˈnæt͡ʃɹəl/

From Middle English supernatural, supernaturel, from Middle French supernaturel, from Latin supernātūrālis, from super (“above”) + nātūra (“nature; that which we are born with”), from nātus (“born”), perfect passive participle of nāscī (“to be born”) + adjective suffix -ālis. By surface analysis, super- + natural.

In Roman Catholic theology, sanctifying grace is considered to be a supernatural addition to human nature.

Stephen King's first novel is about a girl named Carrie dealing with supernatural powers.

March 14, 2018, Roger Penrose writing in The Guardian, Mind over matter': Stephen Hawking – obituary
As with the Delphic oracle of ancient Greece, physical impairment seemed compensated by almost supernatural gifts, which allowed his mind to roam the universe freely, upon occasion enigmatically revealing some of its secrets hidden from ordinary mortal view.

Above nature; beyond or added to nature, often so considered because it is given by a deity or some force beyond that which humans are born with.

The house is haunted by supernatural forces.

Not of the usual; not natural; altered by forces that are not understood fully, if at all.


supernatural

/ˌsupɚˈnæt͡ʃɚəl/

/ˌsupɚˈnæt͡ʃɹəl/

Dr Johnson defended Shakespeare's use of the supernatural from the charge of implausibility on the grounds that, "The reality of witchcraft … has in all ages and countries been credited by the common people, and in most by the learned."

(uncountable) Supernatural beings and events collectively (when used with definite article: "the supernatural")


grove

From Middle English grove, grave, from Old English grāf, grāfa (“grove; copse”), from Proto-West Germanic *graib, *graibō (“branch, group of branches, thicket”), from Proto-Germanic *graibaz, *graibô (“branch, fork”).
Related to Old English grǣf, grǣfe (“brushwood; thicket; copse”), Old English grǣfa (“thicket”), dialectal Norwegian greive (“ram with splayed horns”), dialectal Norwegian greivlar (“ramifications of an antler”), dialectal Norwegian grivla (“to branch, branch out”), Old Norse grein (“twig, branch, limb”). More at greave.


apothecary

desc

அப்போதிக்கரி

→ Tamil: அப்போதிக்கரி (appōtikkari)

/əˈpɒθəkəɹi/

/əˈpɑθəˌkɛəɹi/

From Old French apotecaire, from Medieval Latin apothecarius (“storekeeper”), from apotheca (“shop, store”), earlier Latin apotheca (“repository, storehouse, warehouse”), from Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (apothḗkē, “a repository, storehouse”), from ἀπό (apó, “away”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put”) literally "a place where things are put away". Doublet of boutique and bodega.

der

O true Appothecarie! / Thy drugs are quicke. Thus with a kiſſe I die.

c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 75, column 2:

The girls, though their illness was long and dangerous, recovered under Mrs. Palmer's care, who watched over them as if they had been her own; and from that time an affection, as valuable as it was pleasant, sprang up between them. When Lady Anne returned, she called, and talked about every thing but the apothecary's bill.

1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter V, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 62:

It amused me to see the bustle and the life in the apothecary's shop across the street.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 2:

(archaic in US, dated in UK) Synonym of pharmacist: a person who sells medicine, especially (historical) one who made and sold their own medicines in the medieval or early modern eras.


blessing

From Middle English blessinge, blessynge, from Old English blētsung, blēdsung (“a blessing”), equivalent to bless + -ing.


esoteric

en-adj

esoteric (comparative more esoteric, superlative most esoteric)

more esoteric (comparative)
most esoteric (superlative)

/ˌɛs.əˈtɛɹ.ɪk/

/ˌɛs.əˈtɛɹ.ɪk/

From Ancient Greek ἐσωτερικός (esōterikós, “belonging to an inner circle”), from ἐσωτέρω (esōtérō, “further inside”), comparative of ἔσω (ésō, “within”), from ἐς (es), εἰς (eis, “into”) (the term esoteric referred originally to the secret teachings of Greek philosophers, versus public or exoteric ones).

bor

The writing in this manual is very esoteric; I’d need a degree in engineering just to understand it!

Intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest, or an enlightened inner circle.

When he spoke to me of esoteric mysteries I wanted to say to him,"Don't give me that spiritual hokum, friend!"

1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 278:

Having to do with concepts that are highly theoretical and without obvious practical application; often with mystical or religious connotations.

esotèric

having to do with concepts that are highly theoretical


esoteric

/ˌɛs.əˈtɛɹ.ɪk/

/ˌɛs.əˈtɛɹ.ɪk/

One who believes, or is an initiate, in esoteric doctrines or rites.


detriment

en-noun

detriment (countable and uncountable, plural detriments)

From Old French detriement, from Latin detrimentum (“loss, damage, literally a rubbing off”), from dēterere (“to rub off, wear”), from dē- (“down, away”) + terere (“to rub”).
Detriment is based off the word deter, and built on similar foundations to the word impediment.

der

Saturn, Jupiter and Mars from their conjunction to their opposition with the Sun are Oriental, and gain two fortitudes; but from their Opposition to their Conjunction are occidental, and incur two detriments.

1660, Henry More, An Explanation of the grand Mystery of Godliness, page 342:

DEJECTION [with Astrol.] said of the planets, when in their detriment, i.e. when they have lost their force or influence by reason of being in opposition to some other, which check and contract them.

1730, NathanBailey, Dictionarium Britannicum,:

This is infallible : Saturn out of all Dignities in his Detriment and Fall, combust : and Venus in the South-angle elevated above him, Lady of both their Nativities, in her essential and accidental Dignities; occidental from the[…]

1761, Philip Massinger, The Dramatic Works of Philip Massinger ... Revised ... by T. Coxeter. With Notes Critical and Explanatory, of Various Authors. To which are Prefixed, Critical Reflections on the Old English Dramatic Writers [by G. Colman]., page 302:

Mercury peregrine, and in detriment or fall, retrograde or combust, in quartile or opposition of Luna from angles, Now in motion, cadent, or in via combusta, or afflicted by Saturn or Mars, shows[…]

1826, Ebenezer Sibly, A New and Complete Illustration of the Celestial Science of Astrology; Or, The Art of Foretelling Future Events and Contingencies, page 257:

The dignity or debility of the planet the eclipse falls on must be noted. Eclipses that fall on a planet in detriment or fall seem to have more of an adverse effect. Eclipses that fall on a planet in its rulership or exaltation seem[…]

2004 January 1, Carol Rushman, Forecasting Your Life Events: An Art of Predictive Astrology, Motilal Banarsidass, →ISBN, page 212:

The Moon is in her detriment in Capricorn, which is opposite Cancer. Those with the Moon in Capricorn may be afraid of their feelings, keeping them locked away. The Moon is in her fall in Scorpio, which is opposite Taurus.

2004 08, Teresa Moorey, The Little Book of Moon Magic, Andrews McMeel Publishing, →ISBN, page 15:

Planets in their detriment do not operate well with their basic natural energies because they are not in a comfortable environment within which to do so. Planets in detriment are disorganized. The easy, peace-loving energy of Venus is[…]

2012, B. D. Salerno, Forensics by the Stars: Astrology Investigates, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 90:

The Moon is in detriment and doesn't aspect the ascendant. Mercury applies to an opposition with Jupiter without reception. Judgement: The Mercury/Jupiter opposition is not fortunate, but there are two very fortunate testimonies,[…]

2019 March 20, Petros Eleftheriadis, Horary Astrology: The Practical Way to Learn Your Fate, The Wessex Astrologer, →ISBN:

(astrology) The position or state of a planet when it is in the sign opposite its house, considered to weaken it.


mercurial

/məːˈkjʊə.ɹɪ.əl/

Noun sense 1 (“(obsolete) plant known as mercury”) is from Middle English mercurial, from Anglo-Norman mercurial and Old French mercurial, or directly from their etymon, from Mercurius (“the Roman god Mercury”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns).
Later adjective and noun uses may have been directly derived from Latin mercuriālis, whence Middle English mercurial (“under the astrological influence of the planet Mercury”).

ref

From the collection of the Wellcome Library in London, England, UK.

cog

As for [Lambert] Simnell, there was not much in him, more then that hee was a handſome Boy, and did not ſhame his Robes. But this Youth (of whom wee are now to ſpeake) was ſuch a Mercuriall, as the like hath ſeldome beene knowne; and could make his owne part, if at any time hee chanced to bee out.

1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC, pages 112–113:

(astrology) A person born under the influence of the planet Mercury; hence, a person having an animated, lively, quick-witted or volatile character.


mercurial

en-adj

mercurial (comparative more mercurial, superlative most mercurial)

more mercurial (comparative)
most mercurial (superlative)

/məːˈkjʊə.ɹɪ.əl/

The Sun to the Terms of Mercury. It inclineth the native to be Mercurial, given to ſtudy Arts and Sciences, and to delight in reading, and to follow his Calling with chearfulneſs.

1682, Joseph Blagrave, “[The Effects of Directions.] The Sun Directed unto Promittors.”, in Obadiah Blagrave, editor, Blagrave’s Introduction to Astrology. In Three Parts. […], London: Printed by E. Tyler, and R. Holt, for Obadiah Blagrave, […], →OCLC, part III, page 254:

6thly, The ☽ separates from a △ of ♂, and applies to ☍ of ☿, lord of the 3d; which intimated that some neighbour of the querent, either with a letter, words, or cross information, would wholly destroy the querent's hopes; and that mercurial men, viz. scholars or divines, would be his enemies: [...]

1852, William Lilly, Zadkiel [pseudonym; Richard James Morrison], “Of the Ninth House and Its Questions. Long Journeys, Voyages, Arts, Science, Church Preferment, Law, &c.”, in An Introduction to Astrology […]: A Grammar of Astrology, and Tables for Calculating Nativities. […], London: H[enry] G[eorge] Bohn, […], →OCLC, page 268:

(not comparable, astrology) Pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Mercury; having the characteristics of a person under such influence (see adjective sense 1).

mercurial

pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Mercury


poppet

A doll (such as a voodoo doll) made in witchcraft to represent a person, used in casting spells on that person.


manifest

en-verb

manifest (third-person singular simple present manifests, present participle manifesting, simple past and past participle manifested)

manifests (present singular third-person)
manifesting (participle present)
manifested (participle past)
manifested (past)

From Middle English manifest, manifeste, from Latin manifestus, manufestus (“palpable, manifest”), from manus (“hand”) + *infestus, participle of *infendō (“strike”) (from the root of dēfendō, offendō, etc.), or from Proto-Indo-European *dʰers-. Doublet of manifesto.

The process of creating your treasure map is a powerful step toward manifesting your goal. Now just spend a few minutes each day looking at it[…]

1982, Shakti Gawain, The Creative Visualization Workbook:

Undaunted by poverty, I decided to manifest a new car.

2014, Adrian Calabrese, How to Get Everything You Ever Wanted: Complete Guide to Using Your Psychic Common Sense:

To Fishback, the project is a perfect fit. “I’ve been manifesting a romance role for a really long time,” she said,

2021, Kyle Buchanan, “Dominique Fishback Gave Her Heart to ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’”, in The New York Times:

(transitive, initially occult, now slang) To will something to exist.


ship

→ Japanese: シップ (shippu)

From Middle English ship, schip, from Old English sċip, from Proto-West Germanic *skip, from Proto-Germanic *skipą, from Proto-Indo-European *skēyb-, *skib-. More at shift.
cognates
Cognate with West Frisian skip, Dutch schip, German Schiff, Yiddish שיף (shif), Danish skib, Norwegian skip, Swedish skepp. Related also to Lithuanian skiẽbti (“to rip up”), Latvian škibît (“to cut, lop”), Ancient Greek σκάφη (skáphē, “light boat, skiff”).

cog

it's not the size of the ship, it's the motion of the ocean

(cartomancy) The third card of the Lenormand deck.


OTO

Ordo Templi Orientis
w:Ordo Templi Orientis


way

From Middle English way, wey, from Old English weġ, from Proto-West Germanic *weg, from Proto-Germanic *wegaz, from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-. Doublet of voe and possibly via.

don't let the door hit you on the way out

have one's head screwed on the right way

his driveway doesn't go all the way to the road

one's elevator doesn't go all the way to the top

the real treasure is the friends we made along the way

there's more than one way to cook an egg

there's more than one way to crack an egg

there's more than one way to peel an orange

the way to a man's heart is through his stomach

you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows

To walk the Way of the Runes, you must experience the runes as they manifest both in the part of Midgard that lies outside yourself and the worlds within. (Diana Paxson)

(Germanic paganism) A tradition within the modern pagan faith of Heathenry, dedication to a specific deity or craft, Way of wyrd, Way of runes, Way of Thor etc.

usko

paganism: dedication to a specific deity or craft


clover

→ Catalan: clóver

From Middle English clovere, claver, from Old English clāfre, earlier clǣfre, from Proto-West Germanic *klaibrā. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Kleeuwer (“clover”), West Frisian klaver (“clover”), Dutch klaver (“clover”), German Low German Klaver (“clover”), German Klee (“clover”).

(cartomancy) The second Lenormand card, representing hope, optimism and short-term luck.


occult

en-adj

occult (comparative more occult, superlative most occult)

more occult (comparative)
most occult (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin occultus (“hidden, secret”).

occult blood loss; occult cancer

This counter-influence is so much more conclusive[…] because it is of an occult kind, and is so insensible in its advances as to escape observation.

1860, Isaac Taylor, “Mind in Form”, in Ultimate Civilization, page 178:

(medicine) Secret; hidden from general knowledge; undetected.

ծածուկ

secret; hidden from general knowledge; undetected

Be aware that occult knowledge can be used for good or evil purposes.

2017, Pao Chang, Word Magic: The Powers & Occult Definitions of Words, →OCLC:

Related to the occult; pertaining to mysticism, magic, or astrology.

Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ "I never understood it," she observed, lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."

1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:


occult

(usually with "the") Supernatural affairs.


haunt

en-verb

haunt (third-person singular simple present haunts, present participle haunting, simple past and past participle haunted)

haunts (present singular third-person)
haunting (participle present)
haunted (participle past)
haunted (past)

From Middle English haunten (“to reside, inhabit, use, employ”), from Old French hanter (“to inhabit, frequent, resort to”), from Old Northern French hanter (“to go back home, frequent”), from Old Norse heimta (“to bring home, fetch”) or/and from Old English hāmettan (“to bring home; house; cohabit with”); both from Proto-Germanic *haimatjaną (“to house, bring home”), from Proto-Germanic *haimaz (“village, home”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóymos (“village”).
Cognate with Old English hǣman (“to cohabit, lie with, marry”); related to Old English hām (“home, village”), Old French hantin (“a stay, a place frequented by”) from the same Germanic source. Another descendant from the French is Dutch hanteren, whence German hantieren, Swedish hantera, Danish håndtere. More at home.

cog

A couple of ghosts haunt the old, burnt-down house.

You wrong me Sir,thus ſtill to haunt my houſe.

c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 52, column 1:

Foul spirits haunt my resting place.

1600, [Torquato Tasso], “(please specify |book=1 to 20)”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, →OCLC:

those cares that haunt the court and town

1713, Jonathan Swift, Imitation of Horace, Book I. Ep. VII:

(transitive) To inhabit or to visit frequently (most often used in reference to ghosts).

[…]haunte thi silf to pite [or pitee].

c. 1382–1395, John Wycliffe [et al.], edited by Josiah Forshall and Frederic Madden, The Holy Bible, […], volume I (in Middle English), Oxford: At the University Press, published 1850, →OCLC, I. Timothy 4:7, columns 1, 2:

(transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To accustom; habituate; make accustomed to.

Leave honest pleasure, and haunt no good pastime.

a. 1569 (date written), Roger Ascham, edited by Margaret Ascham, The Scholemaster: Or Plaine and Perfite Way of Teaching Children, to Vnderstand, Write, and Speake, the Latin Tong, […], London: […] John Daye, […], published 1570, →OCLC:

(transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To practise; to devote oneself to.


haunt

The lofty mountains roſe faint to the ſight and loſt their foreheads in the diſtant ſkies: the little hills, cloathed in darker green and ſkirted with embroidered vales, diſcovered the ſecret haunts of kids and bounding roes.

1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page iv:


decile

(astrology) An aspect or position of two planets when they are distant from each other a tenth part of the zodiac.


cross

→ Japanese: クロス (kurosu)

From Middle English cross, cros, from Old English cros (“rood, cross”), perhaps from Old Irish cros (compare Welsh croes, Irish crois), perhaps from Latin crux (cruci). In this sense displaced native Middle English rood, from Old English rōd; see rood.
The sense of "two intersecting lines drawn or cut on a surface; two lines intersecting at right angles" without regard to religious signification develops from the late 14th century.
cognates
*Old Norse kross (“cross”)
*Icelandic kross (“cross”)
*Faroese krossur (“cross”)
*Danish kors (“cross”)
*Swedish kors (“cross”)
*German Kreuz (“cross”)
*Dutch kruis (“cross”)

(cartomancy) The thirty-sixth Lenormand card.


witch

The noun is from Middle English wicche, from Old English wiċċe (“witch (female), sorceress”) and wiċċa (“witch (male), sorcerer, warlock”), deverbative from wiċċian (“to practice sorcery”), from Proto-Germanic *wikkōną (compare West Frisian wikje, wikke (“to foretell, warn”), German Low German wicken (“to soothsay”), Dutch wikken, wichelen (“to dowse, divine”)), from Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh₂-, derivation of *weyk- (“to consecrate; separate”); akin to Latin victima (“sacrificial victim”), Lithuanian viẽkas (“life-force”), Sanskrit विनक्ति (vinákti, “to set apart, separate out”). Possibly related to wicked; see that entry for more.
The verb is from the noun.

cog

(geometry) A certain curve of the third order, described by Maria Agnesi under the name versiera.


Sabbat

(Wicca) Any of the eight major holy days celebrated in Wicca.


hierophant

en-noun

hierophant (plural hierophants or hierophantes)

hierophants (plural)
hierophantes (plural)

/ˈhaɪəɹəˌfænt/

From Ancient Greek ἱεροφάντης (hierophántēs, from ἱερός (hierós, “holy”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “I show, make known”)).

bor

The exhibition of ancient statues, relics, and symbols, concealed from daily adoration (as in the Catholic festivals of this day), probably, made a main duty of the Hierophant.

1837, Edward Lytton Bulwer [i.e., Edward Bulwer-Lytton], Athens: Its Rise and Fall: […], volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, book I, page 59:

If books are as provocative as you suggest, one would expect every librarian to utter the shrill screams of a hierophant, to clash ecstatic castanets in his silent alcoves!

1919, Christopher Morley, The Haunted Bookshop, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, →OCLC:

Most scholars name the rectangular enclosure anaktoron, locate in it the throne of the hierophant, and suppose that from it emanated the central revelation which occurred, in Plutarch's phrase, ‘when the anaktora were opened’.

2005, Robert Parker, Polytheism and Society at Athens, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 351:

Eleusinian Mysteries
Eleusinian Mysteries

(Ancient Greece) An ancient Greek priest who interpreted sacred mysteries, especially the priest of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

Thus I became the hierophant of those three worthy and talented men, who, in spite of their literary accomplishments, were not wise, since they were infatuated with occult and fabulous sciences, and believed in the existence of phenomena impossible in the moral as well as in the physical order of things.

1894, Arthur Machen, Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt:

What did even the hierophants of science know of the potencies of, for them, unvintageable evil?

1947, Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano, New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, page 145:

Ambassadors of northern countries stand / Impassive while our hierophants intone / Long canticles of Christ the Contraband: / Our grandees' hearts are shrunk to kidney stones.

1975, Peter Porter, “Baroque Quatrains Dedicated to James Fenton”, in Living in a Calm Country:

No, I must play creator / And make them up, these hierophants.

1987, Peter Porter, “A Tribute to my enemies”, in The Automatic Oracle:

An interpreter of sacred mysteries or arcane knowledge.


Capricornus

/ˌkæpɹɪˈkɔːnəs/

/ˌkæpɹɪˈkɔːɹnəs/

From Middle English, borrowed from Latin Capricornus, from capra (“goat”) and cornū (“horn”).


lady

⇒ Afrikaans: haar ladyskap

→ Arabic: لِيدِي (līdī)

Egyptian Arabic: ليدي (lēdī)

→ Belarusian: лэ́дзі (lédzi)

→ Bulgarian: ле́йди (léjdi)

→ French: lady

→ German: Lady

→ Greek: λαίδη (laídi), λέδη (lédi)

→ Italian: lady

→ Japanese: レディ (redi), レディー (redī)

→ Korean: 레이디 (reidi)

→ Latvian: lēdija

→ Macedonian: леди (ledi)

→ Polish: lady

→ Romanian: lady

→ Russian: ле́ди (lédi)

→ Spanish: lady

→ Tongan: leitī

→ Ukrainian: ле́ді (lédi)

→ Volapük: läd

From Middle English lady, laddy, lafdi, lavedi, from Old English hlǣfdīġe (“mistress of a household, wife of a lord, lady”, literally “bread-kneader”), from hlāf (“bread, loaf”) + dīġe (“kneader”), related to Old English dǣġe (“maker of dough”) (whence dey (“dairymaid”)). Compare also lord. More at loaf, dairy, dough. Unrelated to lad.


medium

Borrowed from Latin medium, neuter of medius (“middle”), from Proto-Italic *meðjos, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between”). Compare middle. Doublet of mid, medio, media, and mediate.

doublet

The hall was not too well lit and dark shadows lurked in the corners. The medium still bent her head as if her ears were straining.

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

(countable, spiritualism, plural mediums or (rare, nonstandard) media) Someone who supposedly conveys information from the spirit world.

ме́диум

someone who supposedly conveys information from the spirit world

mediumistic

person claiming to convey information from the spirit world


figure

→ Japanese: フィギュア (figyua)

From Middle English figure, borrowed from Old French figure, from Latin figūra (“form, shape, form of a word, a figure of speech, Late Latin a sketch, drawing”), from fingō (“to form, shape, mold, fashion”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- (“to mold, shape, form, knead”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τεῖχος (teîkhos), Sanskrit देग्धि (degdhi), Old English dāg (“dough”). More at dough. Doublet of figura.

der

its quality, like those of all the rest, is determined by its position in the house of the astrological figure

1889, Franz Hartmann, The Principles of Astrological Geomancy:

(astrology) A horoscope; the diagram of the aspects of the astrological houses.


ghost

en-noun

ghost (countable and uncountable, plural ghosts)

→ Japanese: ゴースト (gōsuto)

Inherited from Middle English gost, from Old English gāst (which was the word for “spirit” as well as “ghost”; the original sense survives in Modern English Holy Ghost), from Proto-West Germanic *gaist, from Proto-Germanic *gaistaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéysdos, derived from *ǵʰéysd- (“anger, agitation”).
The ⟨h⟩ in the spelling appears in the Prologue to William Caxton's Royal Book, printed in 1484, in a reference to the ‘Holy Ghoost’, likely introduced by Caxton's assistant, Wynkyn de Worde, as a result of Flemish influence, where it was spelled gheest at the time. Doublet of geist.

Everyone believed that the ghost of an old lady haunted the crypt.

The mighty ghosts of our great Harries rose.

1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number):

I thought that I had died in sleep/And was a blessed ghost

1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere:

For a moment I was puzzled, but presently, of course, it struck me that he must have seen Ayesha, wrapped in her grave-like garment, and been deceived by the extraordinary undulating smoothness of her walk into a belief that she was a white ghost gliding towards him.

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

Hepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.

1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:

The disembodied soul; the soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death.

ghost rocket

ghost deer

(attributive) Of cryptid, supernatural or extraterrestrial nature.


fool

full (accents with FOOT-GOOSE merger or full-fool merger)

From Middle English fole (“fool”), from Old French fol (cf. modern French fou (“mad”)) from Latin follis. Doublet of follis and folly.Displaced native Old English dwæs.

(tarot, often capitalized Fool) A particular card in a tarot deck, representing a jester.


omen

The ghost's appearance was an ill omen.

A rise in imports might be an omen of economic recovery.

The egg has, during the span of history, represented mystery, magic, medicine, food and omen.

Day broke. He saw three black hens asleep in a tree. He shuddered, horrified at this omen. Then he promised the Holy Virgin three chasubles for the church, and that he would go barefooted from the cemetery at Bertaux to the chapel of Vassonville.

1856, Gustave Flaubert, chapter 10, in Eleanor Marx-Aveling, transl., Madame Bovary, Part 3:

Something which portends or is perceived to portend either a good or evil event or circumstance in the future, or which causes a foreboding; a portent or augury.

فَأل

something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future; an augury or foreboding

[Book Pahlavi needed] (mwlwʾk' /murwāg/)

A sign of ill omen.


omen

en-verb

omen (third-person singular simple present omens, present participle omening, simple past and past participle omened)

omens (present singular third-person)
omening (participle present)
omened (participle past)
omened (past)

(intransitive) To divine or predict from omens.


cup

→ Farefare: kɔpɩ

→ Hebrew: קאפ (kap)

→ Japanese: カップ (kappu)

desc

→ Kashubian: kopsa (Canada, United States)

→ Korean: 컵 (keop)

→ Maori: kapu

From Middle English cuppe, coppe, from the merger of Old English cuppe (“cup”) and Old English copp (“cup, vessel”).
Old English cuppe is a borrowing from Late Latin cuppa, itself of obscure origin, but probably from earlier Latin cūpa (“tub, cask”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewp- (“a hollow”). Old English copp, however, is from Proto-West Germanic *kopp (“round object, bowl, vessel, knoll, summit, crown of the head”), from Proto-Germanic *kuppaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend, curve, arch”) (whence also obsolete English cop (“top, summit, crown of the head”), German Kopf (“top, head”)).
The Middle English word was further reinforced by Anglo-Norman cupe and Old French cope, coupe, from Latin cuppa. Compare also Saterland Frisian Kop (“cup”), West Frisian kop (“cup”), Dutch kop (“cup”), German Low German Koppke, Köppke (“cup”), Danish kop (“cup”), Swedish kopp (“cup”). Doublet of coupe, hive, and keeve.

unk

obscure

cog

that and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee

that and a nickel will buy you a cup of coffee

that and twenty-five cents will get you a cup of coffee

there's many a slip between the cup and the lip

there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip

(tarot) A suit of the minor arcana in tarot, or one of the cards from the suit.


vertex

Late Middle English, borrowed from Latin vertex (“whirl, eddy; top, crown, peak, summit”). Doublet of vortex.

der

Mathworld article on vertices of polyhedra

Mathworld article on vertices of polygons

(astrology) The point where the prime vertical meets the ecliptic in the western hemisphere of a natal chart.


Aquarius

/əˈkwɛə.ɹɪ.əs/

Borrowed from Latin aquārius (“water carrier”), from aqua (“water”) + -arius. See also aquarium.

(astronomy) A constellation of the zodiac, supposedly shaped like a water carrier.

(astrology) The zodiac sign for the water carrier, ruled by Uranus covering January 20 – February 18 (tropical astrology) or February 15 – March 14 (sidereal astrology).


Scorpio

/ˈskɔːɹpɪoʊ/

From Latin scorpiō (“scorpion”). Doublet of scorpion.

(astrology) The zodiac sign for the scorpion, ruled by Mars and covering October 23 - November 22 (tropical astrology) or November 16 - December 15 (sidereal astrology).


guide

→ Korean: 가이드 (gaideu)

→ Japanese: ガイド (gaido)

→ Norwegian: guide

→ Swedish: guide

c. 1325–75. From Middle English guide, from the Old French guide, from Old Occitan guida, from guidar, from Frankish *wītan (“to show the way, lead”), from Proto-Germanic *wītaną (“to see, know; go, depart”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, know”). Cognate with Old English wītan (“to see, take heed to, watch after, guard, keep”). Related also to English wit.

cog

The familiars of the magicians, on the other hand, were not in all cases evil, and often may have approximated the "guides" with whom present-day spiritualists are well acquainted.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 75:

(occult) A spirit believed to speak through a medium.


apparition

/ˌæp.əɹˈɪʃn̩/

/ˌæp.ɚˈɪʃ.n̩/

/ˌæp.ɚˈɪ.ʃən/

From Middle French apparition, from Latin apparitio, from appareo.

the sudden apparition of the Spaniards

1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC:

The apparition of Lawyer Clippurse occasioned much speculation in that portion of the world.

1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:

An act of becoming visible; appearance; visibility.

The attic is haunted by the ghostly apparition of a young girl who died there.

I think it is the weakness of mine eyes / That shapes this monstrous apparition.

1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

The heavenly bands […] a glorious apparition.

1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

The apparition wobbled in front of Arthur's eyes, though the truth of the matter is probably that Arthur's eyes were wobbling in front of the apparition.

1982, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything, page 24:

An unexpected, wonderful, or preternatural appearance; especially something such as a ghost or phantom.

привидение

(astronomy) The first appearance of a star or other luminary after having been invisible or obscured; opposed to occultation.

видимост

astronomy: the first appearance of a luminary after having been invisible or obscured

(astronomy) A period of consecutive days or nights when a particular celestial body may be observed, beginning with the heliacal rising of the body and ending with its heliacal setting.


trigon

en-noun

trigon (countable and uncountable, plural trigons)

From Ancient Greek τρίγωνον (trígōnon, “triangle”), neuter substantive of τρίγωνος (trígōnos, “three-sided”), from τρεῖς (treîs, “three”) + γωνία (gōnía, “bend, angle”). Equivalent to tri- + -gon. Doublet of trigone and trigonon.

der

(countable, astrology) A division consisting of three signs.

In the horoscope of Christ's nativity.[…]Whether a trigon or no, this tetragon I am sure there was.

(countable, astrology) A trine; an aspect of two planets distant 120 degrees from each other.


warlock

From Middle English warloghe, warlowe, warloȝe, from Old English wǣrloga (“traitor, deceiver”, literally “truce-breaker”), from Proto-West Germanic *wārulogō (“liar”), equivalent to Old English wǣr (“covenant, truce, pact, promise”) (from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁- (“true”); whence also Latin vērus) + loga (“liar”), from Proto-Germanic *lugô, related to Old English lēogan (whence English lie). The hard -ck ending originated in Scottish and Northern English, like the sense "male magic-user" (from the notion that such men were in league with the Devil and had thus broken their baptismal vows / betrayed Christianity). Cognate with Old Saxon wārlogo (“liar, unfaithful or insidious one”).
A few writers alternatively propose a derivation from Old Norse varðlokkur (“incantations, charms”, literally “ward songs”), but as the OED notes, this is implausible due to the extreme rarity of the Norse word, the semantic difference, and because forms without hard -k, which are consistent with the Old English etymology (“traitor”), are attested earlier than forms with -k, and forms with -ð- are not attested.

cog

He was himself a warlock, or wizard, which they knew by his taking the witch's part.

1730, Edward Burt, Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland:

It was the day of warlocks and apparitions, now happily driven out by the zeal of the General Assembly.

1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:


black magic

Coordinate term: gray magic

Magic derived from evil forces, as distinct from good or benign forces; or magic performed with the intention of doing harm.

Coordinate term: black box

This is the fact of a new and vitally interesting experiment in the realm of physics, psychology, and art. There is no trick to this, as tricks go, except the mathematical magic of simple physics. Of course, simple physics for one man is black magic for another.

1920, “Two Pictures on a Single Canvas”, in Technology Review, page 579:

The NCFLI will provide a step-by-step explanation of the processes involved. This should be done in order to dispel, to the extent possible, the notion that computerized production of legal texts and reports is "black magic," or that a hard copy of the processed text is something quite mysterious.

1970, Charles Nasem, The National Center for Law Information concept: a discussion, page 16:

Occult or secret magic; magic (or, by extension or comparison, technology etc) that is mysterious, not known to or understood by many.


constellation

PIE word
 *ḱóm
From Middle English constellacioun, constillacioun (“(astrology) position of the moon or a planet in relation to the ascendant sign of the zodiac; horoscope; (astronomy) formation of fixed stars, constellation; (astronomy) elevation or position of the sun”) [and other forms], borrowed from Old French constellation (modern French constellation), or directly from its etymon Late Latin cōnstēllātiōnem, the accusative singular of cōnstēllātiō (“collection of stars supposed to exert an influence upon human affairs, constellation”), from Latin con- (prefix denoting a bringing together of several objects) + stēlla (“star; meteor; planet”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (“star”)) + -ātiō (suffix forming nouns).

nb...

constelacioun, constellacion, constellacyon, constellacyoun, constillacion, constillacione, constillacioune, constillatioun, constollacion, constolacioun

sterrebeeld

arbitrary formation of stars perceived as a figure or pattern, or a division of the sky including it

rykelmä

configuration or grouping of related things

But alas such peruerse constellation nowe reigneth ouer men, that where some be aptely and naturally disposed to amitie, and fyndeth one, in similitude of studie and maners, equall to his expectation, and therfore kendeleth a feruent loue towarde that persone, puttinge all his ioye and delite in the praise and auauncement of him that he loueth, it hapneth that he which is loued, beinge promoted in honour, either of purpose neglecteth his frende, therby suppressynge libertie of speche or familiar resorte; or els esteming his mynde with his fortune onely, and nat with the suertie of frendship, hideth from him the secretes of his harte, and either trusteth no man, or els him whome prosperous fortune hath late brought in acquaintaunce.

1531, Thomas Elyot, “The Diuision of Ingratitude and the Dispraise therof”, in Ernest Rhys, editor, The Boke Named the Governour […] (Everyman’s Library), London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent & Co; New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton & Co, published [1907], →OCLC, 2nd book, pages 188–189:

[H]e was born under the constellation that gives a man skill, riches, and integrity, whatever that constellation may be, which is of the less consequence because babies can't choose their own horoscopes, and, indeed, if they could, there might be an inconvenient rush of babies at particular epochs.

1862 July – 1863 August, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “First Impressions”, in Romola. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1863, →OCLC, book I, page 72:

The configuration of planets at a given time (especially a person's birth), as believed to affect events on Earth, or used for determining a horoscope.

I knovv thy conſtellation is right apt / For this affayre: […]

c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv], page 257, column 2:

A person's character or inclinations, supposedly determined by their horoscope.


orb

From Middle English orbe, from Old French orbe, from Latin orbis (“circle, orb”). Compare orbit.

(astrology) Amount of deviation from the closest perfect aspect.


zodiac

/ˈzəʊ.dɪˌæk/

From Middle English zodiak (late 14th century), from Old French zodiaque, from Latin zōdiacus, from Ancient Greek ζῳδιακός [κύκλος] (zōidiakós [kúklos], “[circle] of little animals”), from ζῴδιον (zṓidion), the diminutive of ζῷον (zôion, “animal”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃weti (“to live”).

ζῳδιακός 􂀿κύκλος􂁀

Tremulous on the bladed graſs ſhone bright the pearly drops, like an aſſembly of ſparkling ſtars dancing on the plains of the zodiac; vocal was every bending ſpray, every reed was inſpired, each vvarbling throat ſeemed to emulate the melodious voice of the bird of a thouſand ſongs.

1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page iv:

(astrology) The belt-like region of the celestial sphere, approximately eight degrees north and south of the ecliptic, which includes the apparent path of the sun, moon, and visible planets.

(astrology) The twelve equal divisions of the zodiacal region into signs or houses, each named for a prominent constellation in the region.

(astronomy) The ecliptic: the belt-like region of the celestial sphere corresponding to the apparent path of the sun over the course of a year.


enchant

en-verb

enchant (third-person singular simple present enchants, present participle enchanting, simple past and past participle enchanted)

enchants (present singular third-person)
enchanting (participle present)
enchanted (participle past)
enchanted (past)

/ɪnˈt͡ʃɑːnt/

/ɛnˈt͡ʃɑːnt/

/ɘnˈt͡ʃɐːnt/

/ˈɪnˌt͡ʃænt/

/ˈɪnˌt͡ʃɑːnt/

From Middle English enchaunten, from Old French enchanter, from Latin incantāre, present active infinitive of incantō.
Doublet of incant.

(roleplaying games) To magically enhance or degrade an item.


prophet

From Middle English prophete, from Anglo-Norman prophete, from Latin prophēta, from Ancient Greek προφήτης (prophḗtēs, “one who speaks for a god”), from πρό (pró, “before”) + φημί (phēmí, “I tell”). Displaced native Old English wītga.

der

a prophet has no honor in his own country

a prophet is not without honor save in his own country

Someone who predicts the future; a soothsayer.


lord

Belizean Creole: laad

→ Bengali: লাট (laṭ)

→ Hindi: लाट (lāṭ)

→ Czech: lord

→ Faroese: lordur

→ Greek: λόρδος (lórdos)

Gullah: lawd

→ Hungarian: lord

→ Italian: lord

Jamaican Creole: laad

Pijin: lod

→ Portuguese: lorde

→ Russian: ло́рд (lórd)

→ Serbo-Croatian: lȍrd / ло̏рд

→ Spanish: lord

Torres Strait Creole: lod

→ Turkish: lord

→ Yiddish: לאָרד (lord)

From Middle English lord and lorde (attested from the 15th century), from earlier (14th century) lourde and other variants which dropped the intervocalic consonant of earlier lowerd, louerd, loverd, laford, and lhoaverd; from Old English hlāford < hlāfweard, a compound of hlāf (“bread”) + weard (“guardian”); see loaf and ward. The term was already being applied broadly prior to the literary development of Old English and was influenced by its common use to translate Latin dominus. Compare Scots laird (“lord”), preserving a separate vowel development (from northern/Scottish Middle English lard, laverd), the Old English compound hlāf-ǣta (“servant”, literally “bread-eater”), and modern English lady, from Old English hlǣfdīġe (“bread-kneader”). The Middle English word laford was borrowed by Icelandic, where it survives as lávarður. Doublet of hlaford and laird.

The assendent, & eke the lord of the assendent, may be shapen for to be fortunat or infortunat, as thus, a fortunat assendent clepen they whan þat no wykkid planete, as Saturne or Mars, or elles the tail of the dragoun, is in þe hows of the assendent.

c. 1391, Geoffrey Chaucer, Treatise on the Astrolabe, ii. §4:

(astrology) The heavenly body considered to possess a dominant influence over an event, time, etc.


fixed

en-adj

fixed (comparative more fixed, superlative most fixed)

more fixed (comparative)
most fixed (superlative)

постоянен

not changing, not able to be changed, staying the same

(astrology) Being one of the signs Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, associated with stability, permanence, and preservation.


magus

From Latin magus, from Ancient Greek μάγος (mágos, “magician”), from Μάγος (Mágos, “Magian”), of an indeterminate Old Iranian origin (see Μάγος for details). Doublet of mage.

In the middle of the fifth century, Empedocles testified to the vitality of these maguses, who were capable of commanding the winds and of bringing the dead back from Hades and who presented themselves, not as mortals, but as gods.

1987, Jean-Pierre Vernant, translated by Anne Marzin, “Greek Religion”, in edited by Mircea Eliade, The Encyclopedia of Religion, volume 6, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan Publishing Company; London: Collier Macmillan Publishers, →ISBN, page 116, column 1:

It’s from our venerable maguses Gominik Halvor and his son. They’ve cast the runes for our enterprise.

1997, Robert Silverberg, Sorcerers of Majipoor (The Majipoor Cycle), New York, N.Y.: HarperPrism, →ISBN, page 435:

A magician; (derogatory) a conjurer or sorcerer, especially one who is a charlatan or trickster.


term

From Middle English terme, borrowed from Old French terme, from Latin terminus (“a bound, boundary, limit, end; in Medieval Latin, also a time, period, word, covenant, etc.”).
Doublet of terminus and termon. Old English had termen, from the same source.

член

one of the addends in a sum or in another mathematical operation

(astrology) An essential dignity in which unequal segments of every astrological sign have internal rulerships which affect the power and integrity of each planet in a natal chart.


retrograde

en-adj

retrograde (comparative more retrograde, superlative most retrograde)

more retrograde (comparative)
most retrograde (superlative)

The adjective is derived from Middle English retrograd, retrograde (“of a planet: appearing to move in a direction opposite to the order of the zodiac signs, retrograde; unfortunate”), from Middle French retrograde and Old French retrograde (“of a celestial object: appearing to move backwards; moving backwards; reverse; palindromic; opposed to change”) (modern French rétrograde), and from their etymon Latin retrōgradus (“of a celestial object: appearing to move backwards”) (compare Late Latin retrōgradus (“reverse; palindromic”)), from retrō (“back, backwards; behind; before, formerly”) + gradus (“pace, step”). By surface analysis, retro- + -grade.
The adverb and noun are derived from the adjective.

cog

/ˈɹɛtɹə(ʊ)ɡɹeɪd/

/ˈɹɛtɹəˌɡɹeɪd/

retrògrad

reverting to an inferior or less developed state — see also declining, regressing

Mercury retrograde

The inauspicious connotations of Mercury retrograde are actually quite old, evidenced in an ancient branch of astrology known as horary astrology.

2018 March 22, Wilder Davies, “Mercury Is Entering Retrograde Again. This Is Why So Many People Care”, in Time:

(also astrology, often postpositive) Of a celestial body: seeming to move across the sky in the opposite direction from its ordinary movement.

ретрограден

of a celestial body: seeming to move across the sky in the opposite direction from its ordinary movement


retrograde

/ˈɹɛtɹə(ʊ)ɡɹeɪd/

/ˈɹɛtɹəˌɡɹeɪd/

A movement backwards or opposite to the intended or normal motion.

(astrology) The apparent movement of a planet across the sky in the opposite direction from its ordinary movement.


retrograde

en-verb

retrograde (third-person singular simple present retrogrades, present participle retrograding, simple past and past participle retrograded)

retrogrades (present singular third-person)
retrograding (participle present)
retrograded (participle past)
retrograded (past)

From Middle French retrograder (“to (cause to) go back, return; to (cause to) move backwards; of a celestial object: to show retrograde motion; to date to an earlier period”) (modern French rétrograder), and from its etymon Latin retrōgradī, the present active infinitive of retrōgradior (“to go or step back or backwards; of a celestial object: to show retrograde motion”) (compare Late Latin retrogradare, retrogradari, retrogredere), from retrō (“back, backwards; behind; before, formerly”) + gradior (“to step, walk; to advance, go”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰredʰ- (“to go; to walk”)).

der

/ˈɹɛtɹə(ʊ)ɡɹeɪd/

/ˈɹɛtɹəˌɡɹeɪd/

(astrology, astronomy) Of a celestial body, especially a planet: to show retrogradation; to seem to move across the sky in the opposite direction from its ordinary movement.

perääntyä

of a celestial body: to show retrogradation


left-handed

From Middle English left handyd, lyfthonded, equivalent to left + handed.

On the other hand, nearly all magic tends in time to the left-handed path; as being a devious means of attaining desires unobtainable by ordinary methods.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 23:

(occult, of magic) Performed with the intention of doing harm or in transgression against convention or taboo; following the left-hand path


axinomancy

Latin axinomantia, from Ancient Greek ἀξινομαντεία (axinomanteía), from ἀξίνη (axínē, “axe”) and μαντεία (manteía, “prophecy”)

uder

ἀξινομαντεία

Diuination generally was done by diuers means […] by hatchets, Axinomancy

Axinomancy Was performed by balancing an axe on an upright stake, and the names of suspected persons being pronounced, it was supposed to point out the guilty by its motion.

1855, Edward Smedley, The Occult Sciences:

Axinomancy, strictly so called, has varied somewhat in its modus operandi. A hatchet suspended by a cord was used to detect criminals or discover secrets: it twisted and turned in answer to relevant questions.

1925, Arthur Bernard Cook, Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion, volume 2, page 702:


haunted

en-adj

haunted (comparative more haunted, superlative most haunted or hauntedest)

more haunted (comparative)
most haunted (superlative)
hauntedest (superlative)

The hotel was haunted by a disembodied spirit.

Of a location, frequented by a ghost or ghosts.


specter

From French spectre, from Latin spectrum (“appearance, apparition”). Doublet of spectrum.

der

A specter haunted the cemetery at the old Vasquez manor.

A ghostly apparition, a phantom. [from 17th c.]


brownie

en-noun

brownie (countable and uncountable, plural brownies)

→ Belarusian: бра́ўні (bráŭni)

→ Chinese: 布朗尼 (bùlǎngní)

→ French: brownie

→ German: Brownie

→ Hungarian: brownie

→ Irish: donnóg (calque)

→ Italian: brownie

→ Japanese: ブラウニー (buraunī)

→ Lithuanian: braunis

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: brownie

→ Polish: brownie

→ Portuguese: brownie

→ Russian: бра́уни (bráuni)

→ Kazakh: брауни (brauni)

→ Spanish: brownie

→ Thai: บราวนี (bpraao-níi)

→ Turkish: brownie, browni, brovni

→ Welsh: browni

From brown + -ie (diminutive suffix). In folkloric sense, originally Scots.

(paganism) A household spirit or revered ancestor.


paganism

paganism (countable and uncountable, plural paganisms)

From Latin pāgānismus (“heathenism”), from pāgānus (“peasant, rural, rustic”). The term was used pejoratively by early Muslims and Christians to belittle what remained of the native religions. By surface analysis, pagan + -ism.

idhujtari

local religions practiced before the introduction of Christianity

Most people in that region practise their own form of paganism.