divination (div in ash on)

[F. divination = Pr. divinacio (cf. Sp. a div in a cion = Pg. adevi nhação ) = It. div in azione = D. divinatie = Dan. Sw. divination (in comp.), Divination hath been anciently and fitly divided into artificial and natural; whereof artificial is when the mind maketh a prediction by argument, concluding upon signs and tokens; natural is when the mind hath a present i on by an internal power, without the inducement of a sign. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, ii. 203. 2. Figuratively, a sort of instinctive prevision; a presentiment and knowledge of a future event or events; conjectural presage: omen. = Sp. Pg. It. div in a to rio, We have seen such places before; we have visited them in that divinatory glance which strays away into space for a moment over the top of a suggestive book. H. James , Jr., Trans. Sketches, p. 308.