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haruspex

/həˈrʌspɛks/
IPA guide

Other forms: haruspices

In ancient Rome, a haruspex was someone who told the future using omens they found in the bodies of animals that had been sacrificed to the gods.

A particular kind of soothsayer or fortune teller, a haruspex had the distasteful job of examining the internal organs of dead animals. Many ancient civilizations held the belief that messages from the gods, as well as portents of future events, could be found in animals' entrails by a knowledgeable haruspex. The word haruspex means "soothsayer by means of entrails," and is derived from the roots spek, "to observe," and ghere-, "gut or entrail."

Definitions of haruspex
  1. noun
    one who told the future by studying a dead animal’s organs, especially in ancient times
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