English
myomancy
Myomancy comes from Ancient Greek μῦς ‘mouse’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *múHs.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*múHs‘mouse’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*mū́sreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμῦςmûs‘mouse’
- Englishearliest quotation 1865myomancy
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*múHs‘mouse’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*mū́sreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμῦςmûs‘mouse’
- Englishearliest quotation 1865myomancy
Earliest quotation: 1865, Samuel Lysons: “Pliny has a chapter on myomancy, or soothsaying by…”
Formed from myo + mancy
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *múHs ‘mouse’
muscle, mouse, mice, mussel, murine, musculature, 15 more
through Ancient Greek μῦς ‘mouse’
Today it means
noun Divination by interpreting rats or mice. Their cries were believed to indicate the presence of evil.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *múHs / myomancy