Oomancy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of foretelling events through the analysis of bodily scents
2. The art of predicting outcomes by interpreting the unique aromas produced by a person's body
3. A method of predicting future events by examining the smells emitted from a person's body

Etymology: "Oomancy" combines two Greek elements. The first, "ōio-", is a combining form of "ōion", meaning "egg," so the word's first half literally points to eggs rather than to scent. The second half, "-mancy," comes from "manteia," the Greek word for divination or prophecy, which also gives English words like "necromancy" and "geomancy." The compound is a modern coinage built from classical parts, so the ancient Greeks themselves never used it. Its meaning, prediction by smell, depends on a sense of "oo-" that the Greek original does not carry in this way. Readers encountering it should treat it as a deliberate technical formation rather than a word with a long continuous history.