dīvīnātiō

Meaning

1. divination, prophecy
   Item igitur, si sine divinatione non potest officium et munus divinationis exstare, potest autem quis, cum divinationem habeat, errare aliquando nec vera cernere, satis est ad confirmandam divinationem semel aliquid esse ita divinatum ut nihil fortuito cecidisse videatur1923 translation by W. A. Falconer Likewise, therefore, although without the power of divination it is impossible for the act and function of divining to exist, and though one with that power may sometimes be mistaken and may make erroneous prophecies, yet it is enough to establish the existence of divination that a single event has been so clearly foretold as to exclude the hypothesis of chance.45 BCE, Cicero, De divinatione 32.71
2. an examination as to which individual is to be chosen as prosecutor when there are multiple accusers
   Genus eloquentiae dumtaxat adulescens adhuc Strabonis Caesaris secutus videtur, cuius etiam ex oratione, quae inscribitur “pro Sardis,” ad verbum nonnulla transtulit in divinationem suam.1914 translation by J. C. Rolfe He appears, at least in his youth, to have imitated the manner of Caesar Strabo, from whose speech entitled “For the Sardinians” he actually transferred some passages word for word to a trial address of his own. (The passage refers to a speech performed so as to secure the right to conduct a prosecution)121 CE, Suetonius, De vita Caesarum 55
   Cum de constituendo accusatore quaeritur iudiciumque super ea re redditur cuinam potissimum ex duobus pluribusque accusatio subscriptiove in reum permittatur, ea res atque iudicum cognitio “divinatio” appellatur. Id vocabulum quam ob causam ita factum sit, quaeri solet.1927 translation by J. C. Rolfe When inquiry is made about the choice of a prosecutor, and judgment is rendered on the question to which of two or more persons the prosecution of a defendant, or a share in the prosecution, is to be entrusted, this process and examination by jurors is called divinatio. The reason for the use of this term is a matter of frequent inquiry.c. 177 CE, Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae 2.4.1

Declension

Origins

Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin dīvīnātiō From dīvīnō + -tiō.

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries