Etymology Dictionary

NECROMANCY,  divination by communion with the dead.  (F.,—L.,—Gk.)   The history of the word is somewhat concealed by our modern knowledge of Gk., which enables us to spell the word correctly.   But the M.E. forms are nigromaunce, nigromancie, and the like.   Precisely the same 'correction' of the spelling has been made in modern French.   Spelt nygremauncye in King Alisaunder, l. 138; nigromancye in P. Plowman, A. xi. 158, on which see my Notes to P. Pl., p. 246.   Trench rightly remarks, in his Eng. Past and Present, that 'the Latin mediæval writers, whose Greek was either little or none, spelt the word nigromantia, as if its first syllable had been Latin.'—O.F. nigromance, 'nigromancy, conjuring, the black art;' Cot.   Spelt nygromancye in the 15th cent.; see Littré.—Low Lat. nigromantia, corrupt form of necromantia.—Gk. &nuεκρομαντεία, necromancy.—Gk. νεκρό-, crude form of νεκρός, a corpse; and μαντεία, prophetic power, power of divination.   β. The Gk. νεκρός is extended from νέκυς, a corpse, dead body.—✔NAK, to perish, to kill; whence Skt. naç, to perish, naçaya, to destroy, Lat. necare, to kill, and E. inter-nec-ine, q.v.   γ. The Gk. μαντεία is from μάντις, a prophet, seer, inspired one, from ✔MAN, to think, whence also E. man-ia, men-tor.   Der. necromanc-er, Deut. xviii. 11 (A.V.); necromantic, from Gk. &nuεκρο-, and μαντικός, prophetic; necromantic-al.   ➩ From the singular confusion with Lat. niger, black, above mentioned, the art of necromancy came to be called the black art!