Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An old mode of divination, consisting in suspending a sieve, or fixing it to the point of a pair of shears, then repeating a formula of words and the names of persons suspected of some crime or other act. If the sieve moved when a name was repeated, the person named was deemed guilty.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Divination by means of a suspended sieve.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Divination by the use of a suspended sieve sometimes from tongs or shears. The movement of the sieve when a person's name or word is spoken is interpreted.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Ancient Greek koskinomantis, "a diviner using a sieve", from koskinon, "a sieve".

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