Word.ws English Dictionary

molybdomancy

molybdomancy noun: divination by interpreting shapes formed when molten metal, typically lead or tin, is dropped into water.

Noun

molybdomancy (uncountable)

  1. divination by interpreting shapes formed when molten metal, typically lead or tin, is dropped into water.
    • MOLUBDOMANCY [molybdomanteia of molybdos Lead, and manteia Divination, Gr.] a divining, an observing the motions, Figures, &c. of melted Lead.1727, Bailey, The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.
    • Molybdomancy was divination by melted lead; drops of it were allowed to fall into water, and the resulting noises and hissings listened to.1931, de Givry, Lock tr., Picture Museum of Sorcery

Examples of molybdomancy in a sentence

  • The place of molybdomancy is also to be located in the uncertain border area between spontaneous and solicited projection.1957, Robert Plank, “Spontaneous Projection of Meaningful Forms”, in Journal of Projective Techniques, page 146:
  • There was a happy group in Tallahassee swapping wives on the basis of molybdomancy.1971 January, Tak Hallus, “Homage”, in Analog Science Fiction / Science Fact, page 67:
  • Dropping hot lead or tin into water was another method occasionally employed by the Etruscans in a version of molybdomancy, much like ceromancy.2003, Raymond Buckland, The Fortune-Telling Book, page 199:

Origin of molybdomancy

From Ancient Greek μόλυβδος (mólubdos, “lead”) and the suffix -mancy. Probably after Greek μολυβδομαντεία (molyvdomanteía) or French molybdomancie.

Questions about molybdomancy

What does molybdomancy mean?
Molybdomancy means divination by interpreting shapes formed when molten metal, typically lead or tin, is dropped into water.
How do you use molybdomancy in a sentence?
The place of molybdomancy is also to be located in the uncertain border area between spontaneous and solicited projection.
What part of speech is molybdomancy?
Molybdomancy is a noun.

Words near molybdomancy in the dictionary

  1. molybdoenzymes
  2. molybdoflavoprotein
  3. molybdoflavoproteins
  4. molybdofornacite
  5. molybdolysis
  6. molybdomancy
  7. molybdomenite
  8. molybdophosphate
  9. molybdophosphates
  10. molybdophosphoric
  11. molybdophyllite

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: molybdomancy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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