Words at Play : Top 10 Words with Bizarre Meanings
Definition:
divination by means of the movements of an ax placed on a post
About the Word:
An ancient means of determining guilt, axinomancy involved balancing an ax on a post, and reading a list of names aloud. If the ax moved at a particular name, that person was deemed guilty.
In another (equally strange) version, a marble was placed on a red–hot ax; the motion of the marble signaled guilt.
More Words at Play
