sortilege
See also: sortilège
English
Etymology
From Old French sortilège, from Medieval Latin sortilegium (“witchcraft”), from Latin sortilegus (“sorcerer, diviner”), from sors (“sort”) + legere (“choose”)
Pronunciation
Noun
sortilege (countable and uncountable, plural sortileges)
- Witchcraft, magic, especially as a means of making decisions or predictions.
- 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe:
- We have therefore summoned to our presence a Jewish woman, by name Rebecca, daughter of Isaac of York — a woman infamous for sortileges and for witcheries.
- 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society 2012, page 115:
- Orthodox believers […] were less happy about using sortilege to coerce God into taking decisions on their behalf.
- 2001, JT Leroy, Sarah:
- ‘Too much evil sortilege,’ Glad always says when someone suggests he open a franchise over Cheat Ridge.
- 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe:
Derived terms
Translations
magic
|
Latin
Adjective
(deprecated template usage) sortilege