haruspex
noun /həˈrʌspeks/
/həˈrʌspeks/
(plural haruspices
/həˈrʌspɪsiːz/
/həˈrʌspɪsiːz/
)- a religious official in ancient Rome who predicted the future or interpreted the meaning of events by examining the insides of birds or animals that had been sacrificedWord OriginLatin, from an unrecorded element meaning ‘entrails’ (related to Sanskrit hirā ‘artery’) + -spex (from specere ‘look at’).