from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. Variant of haruspex.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. One of the class of diviners among the Etruscans and Romans, who foretold events by the inspection of the entrails of victims offered on the altars of the gods.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. See haruspex.
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Dante+ in any living face; an aruspex might have read a lecture upon him without exenteration, his flesh being so consumed, that he might, in a manner, have discerned his bowels without opening of him; so that to be carried, sexta cervice+ to the grave, was but a civil unnecessity; and the complements of the coffin might outweigh the subject of it.
In the first victim the aruspex showed him the liver without a head; in the second the head appeared of unusual size, and all the other indications highly promising.
The aruspex is said to have shown to Decius the head of the liver wounded on the side relating to himself, in other respects the victim was acceptable to the gods; whilst Manlius obtained highly favourable omens from his sacrifice.
After he heard that he was an aruspex, being a man whose mind was not without a tincture of religion, pretending that he wished to consult him on the expiation of a private portent, if he could aid him, he enticed the prophet to a conference.
For Papirius the dictator, returning to Rome in order to take the auspices anew, in consequence of a caution received from the aruspex, left strict orders with the master of the horse to remain in his post, and not to engage in battle during his absence.
A fabulous narrative is introduced here, that, when the king of the Veientians was offering sacrifice, the voice of the aruspex, declaring that the victory was given to him who should cut up the entrails of that victim, having been heard in the mine, incited the
The story runs that Camillus, having carried his _cuniculus_ under the Temple of Juno within the citadel, overheard the Etruscan _aruspex_ declare to the king of Veii that victory would rest with him who completed the sacrifice.
According to some accounts there was this difference between the “hariolus” and the “aruspex,” that the former foretold human events, the latter those relating to the Deities.
I never more lively beheld the starved characters of Dante [III. j] in any living face; an aruspex might have read a lecture upon him without exenteration, his flesh being so consumed, that he might, in a manner, have discerned his bowels without opening of him; so that to be carried, sexta cervice [III. k] to the grave, was but a civil unnecessity; and the complements of the coffin might outweigh the subject of it.
a sacred personage as an aruspex or diviner: I mean the poisoning by incantation.