Sortileges

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The practice of magical or occult arts, often involving the casting of spells or divination
2. Techniques or rituals used to invoke supernatural forces or entities to effect change
3. A form of sorcery associated with revealing hidden knowledge or fortune through mystical means

Etymology: "Sortileges" is simply the plural of "sortilege," so the real story belongs to the singular. The Latin "sortilegus" meant "sorcerer" or "diviner," built from "sors," meaning "lot" or "fate," and "legere," meaning "to choose" or "gather." The image is of someone who selects or reads the lots, the way ancient diviners drew or cast objects to learn what fate intended. The word passed through Medieval Latin "sortilegium," which meant "witchcraft," and then into Old French as "sortilège." English borrowed the French form, so the Latin sense of drawing lots survives mostly in the idea that the outcome is decided by chance or fate rather than by reasoning.