Augury vs Sortilege - What's the difference?
augury | sortilege | Synonyms |
A divination based on the appearance and behaviour of animals.
(by extension) An omen or prediction; a foreboding; a prophecy.
* (Edgar Allan Poe)
An event that is experienced as indicating important things to come.
*{{quote-book, year=1928, author=Lawrence R. Bourne
, title=Well Tackled!
, chapter=2 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 , , 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.
As nouns the difference between augury and sortilege
is that augury is a divination based on the appearance and behaviour of animals while sortilege is witchcraft, magic, especially as a means of making decisions or predictions.augury
English
Noun
(auguries)- In Wordsworth's first preludings there is but a dim foreboding of the creator of an era. From Southey's early poems, a safer augury might have been drawn.
citation, passage=Evidently he did not mean to be a mere figurehead, but to carry on the old tradition of Wilsthorpe's; and that was considered to be a good thing in itself and an augury for future prosperity.}}