Oneiromancies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A form of divination that interprets dreams to forecast future events or gain insights
2. the practice of analyzing dreams as a means to perceive hidden truths
3. an art involving the exploration and interpretation of dreams for guidance or prophecy

Etymology: "Oneiromancies" is the plural of "oneiromancy," which is the form most readers will meet. The noun itself is built from Greek. "Oneiros" meant "dream," and "manteia" meant "prophecy" or "divination," so the whole word means divination by dreams. The same Greek root "oneiros" gives English "oneiric," meaning relating to dreams, and "manteia" gives the "-mancy" ending found in words like "necromancy" and "geomancy." The plural form is listed as obsolete, meaning it is rarely used now and mostly survives in older writing, where writers might speak of several separate dream-divinations or several such arts. Modern dictionaries usually treat "oneiromancy" as an uncountable noun, so the plural rarely appears outside specialist or historical contexts.