English
hydromancy
Hydromancy may come from French hydromancie.
- Frenchc. 1600–presenthydromancieuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1797hydromancy
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presenthydromancieuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1797hydromancy
Earliest quotation: 1797, Encyclopædia Britannica: “Hydromancy is the supposed art of divining by water.…”
Formed from hydro + mancy
Proto-Indo-European *wed- ‘water’
Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥ ‘water’
Proto-Hellenic *údōr ‘water’
Ancient Greek ὕδωρ ‘water’
English hydro
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to think, mind’
money, music, mind, amount, mental, mouth, mention, mountain, comment, museum, remain, monster, auto, mount, min, monitor, permanent, monetary, demonstration, mentor, monk, mint, monument, dementia, monte, imminent, maya, monastery, amnesty, muse, mosaic, eminent, summon, menace, ming, mont, muster, amnesia, mas, monstrous, 124 more
through Ancient Greek μαίνομαι ‘to be mad or raving’
through Ancient Greek μάντις ‘prophet, seer’
Today it means
noun Divination by water or other liquid.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / French hydromancie / hydromancy