Nigromancye

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for the black arts of summoning spirits of the dead in order to learn hidden or future things
2. Old spelling for the practice of consulting the deceased through magical rites to reveal what lies ahead
3. A obsolete name for dark sorcery that claims to draw knowledge of the future from the souls of departed people

Etymology: In its original Greek form, "nekromanteia" meant divination by summoning the dead, from "nekros" ("corpse") and "manteia" ("prophecy" or "divination"). Latin borrowed it as "necromantia," and Old French reshaped it as "nigromancie." The change from "ne-" to "nigro-" came from a folk association with Latin "niger," meaning "black," which suited a practice thought to be dark and forbidden. Medieval writers therefore sometimes spelled the word with "nigro-" even though its root had nothing to do with blackness. The spelling "nigromancye" is a Middle English form, with the final "-ye" representing the "-ie" ending of the French original. The word entered English in the Middle Ages and meant the magical art of raising spirits, a sense that was later softened in the early modern period into the broader idea of sorcery or magic. Modern English keeps the "necromancy" spelling, so the "nigro-" form survives mainly in older texts.