radiesthesia

noun

ra·​di·​esthesia

¦rādē+

1

: sensitiveness held to enable a person with the aid of divining rod or pendulum to detect things (such as the presence of underground water, the nature of an illness, or the guilt of a suspected person)

also : dowsing, divining

2

: a study that deals with radiesthesia

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from Latin radius ray + New Latin esthesia

First Known Use

1935, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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