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sortilege - n., divination by drawing lots; sorcery, magic.
The latter being the by-extension meaning -- but then, many words for magic were originally forms of divination, such as necromancy, divination by asking the dead about the future. Pronounced SAW-te-lij, in use since the latter half of the 14th century, from Medieval Latin sortilegium, from Latin sortilegus, foretelling, from sors, lot + -i- + -legus, from legere, to read, count, choose out. Literally, reading the lots.
---L.
The latter being the by-extension meaning -- but then, many words for magic were originally forms of divination, such as necromancy, divination by asking the dead about the future. Pronounced SAW-te-lij, in use since the latter half of the 14th century, from Medieval Latin sortilegium, from Latin sortilegus, foretelling, from sors, lot + -i- + -legus, from legere, to read, count, choose out. Literally, reading the lots.
---L.
