pseudomancy
(ps-, ˈsjuːdəʊmænsɪ)
[ad. med.L. pseudomantīa, a. Chr. Gr. ψευδοµαντεία (Cyril), f. ψευδο- pseudo- + µαντεία divination: see -mancy.]
False or pretended divination. So pseudoˈmantic a., of or pertaining to pseudomancy; ‖ pseudoˈmantis [a. Gr. ψευδόµαντις], pseudoˈmantist, a false prophet or diviner.
| 1652 Gaule Magastrom. 371 Alexander, a pseudomantist,..rotted loathsomely, and so died, miserably eaten up of worms. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Pseudomancy, a false or counterfeit Divination. 1894 N. & Q. 8th Ser. VI. 358/2 The same..wonderfully pseudomantic remark. 1901 D. Smith in Expositor Aug. 145 A vulgar charlatan, strikingly like the pseudomantis, Alexander of Abonoteichos. 1902 Q. Rev. Oct. 596 Every kind of pseudo-mantic literature was to be rooted out. |