DIVISION (I) FORMATION OF IDEAS (continued 2)

#509. [Failure of expectation.] Disappointment.—N. disappointment; blighted hope, balk; blow; anticlimax; slip 'twixt cup and lip; nonfulfillment of one's hopes; sad disappointment, bitter disappointment; trick of fortune; afterclap; false expectation, vain expectation; miscalculation &c. 481; fool's paradise; much cry and little wool. V. be disappointed; look blank, look blue; look aghast, stand aghast &c. (wonder) 870; find to one's cost; laugh on the wrong side of one's mouth; find one a false prophet. not realize one's hope, not realize one's expectation. [cause to be disappointed] disappoint; frustrate, discomfit, crush, defeat (failure) 732; crush one's hope, dash one's hope, balk one's hope, disappoint one's hope, blight one's hope, falsify one's hope, defeat one's hope, discourage; balk, jilt, bilk; play one false, play a trick; dash the cup from the lips, tantalize; dumfound, dumbfound, dumbfounder, dumfounder (astonish) 870. Adj. disappointed &c. v.; disconcerted, aghast; disgruntled; out of one's reckoning. Phr. the mountain labored and brought forth a mouse; parturiunt montes[Lat]; nascitur ridiculus mus [Lat][Horace]; diis aliter visum[Lat][obs3], the bubble burst; one's countenance falling.

#510. Foresight.—N. foresight, prospicience[obs3], prevision, long- sightedness; anticipation; providence &c. (preparation) 673. forethought, forecast; predeliberation[obs3], presurmise[obs3]; foregone conclusion &c. (prejudgment) 481; prudence &c. (caution) 864. foreknowledge; prognosis; precognition, prescience, prenotion[obs3], presentiment; second sight; sagacity &c. (intelligence) 498; antepast[obs3], prelibation[obs3], prophasis[obs3]. prospect &c. (expectation) 507; foretaste; prospectus &c. (plan) 626. V. foresee; look forwards to, look ahead, look beyond; scent from afar; look into the future, pry into the future, peer into the future. see one's way; see how the land lies, get the lay of the land, see how the wind blows, test the waters, see how the cat jumps. anticipate; expect &c. 507; be beforehand &c. (early) 132; predict &c. 511; foreknow, forejudge, forecast; presurmise[obs3]; have an eye to the future, have an eye to the main chance; respicere finem[Lat]; keep a sharp lookout &c. (vigilance) 459; forewarn &c. 668. Adj. foreseeing &c. v.; prescient; farseeing, farsighted; sagacious &c. (intelligent) 498; weatherwise[obs3]; provident &c. (prepared) 673; prospective &c. 507. Adv. against the time when. Phr. cernit omnia Deus vindex[Lat]; mihi cura futuri[Lat]; run it up the flagpole and see who salutes.

#511. Prediction.—N. prediction, announcement; program, programme &c. (plan) 626[Brit]; premonition &c. (warning) 668; prognosis, prophecy, vaticination, mantology[obs3], prognostication, premonstration|; augury, auguration|; ariolation|, hariolation|; foreboding, aboding[obs3]; bodement[obs3], abodement[obs3]; omniation|, omniousness[obs3]; auspices, forecast; omen &c. 512; horoscope, nativity; sooth[obs3], soothsaying; fortune telling, crystal gazing; divination; necromancy &c. 992. [Divination by the stars] astrology[obs3], horoscopy[obs3], judicial astrology1[obs3]. [obs3] adytum[Place of prediction]. prefiguration[obs3], prefigurement; prototype, type. [person who predicts] oracle &c. 513. V. predict, prognosticate, prophesy, vaticinate, divine, foretell, soothsay, augurate[obs3], tell fortunes; cast a horoscope, cast a nativity; advise; forewarn &c. 668. presage, augur, bode; abode, forebode; foretoken, betoken; prefigure, preshow[obs3]; portend; foreshow[obs3], foreshadow; shadow forth, typify, pretypify[obs3], ominate[obs3], signify, point to. usher in, herald, premise, announce; lower. hold out expectation, raise expectation, excite expectation, excite hope; bid fair, promise, lead one to expect; be the precursor &c 64. [predict by mathematical or statistical means from past experience] extrapolate, project. Adj. predicting &cv.; predictive, prophetic; fatidic[obs3], fatidical[obs3]; vaticinal, oracular, fatiloquent[obs3], haruspical, Sibylline; weatherwise[obs3]. ominous, portentous, augurous[obs3], augurial, augural; auspicial[obs3], auspicious; prescious[obs3], monitory, extispicious[obs3], premonitory, significant of, pregnant with, bit with the fate of. Phr. "coming events cast their shadows before" [Campbell]; dicamus bona verba[Lat]; "there buds the promise of celestial worth" [Young].

[1] The following terms, expressive of different forms of divination, have been collected from various sources, and are here given as a curious illustration of bygone superstitions:— Divination by oracles, Theomancy[obs3]; by the Bible, Bibliomancy; by ghosts, Psychomancy[obs3]; by crystal gazing, Crystallomancy[obs3]; by shadows or manes, Sciomancy; by appearances in the air, Aeromancy[obs3], Chaomancy[obs3]; by the stars at birth, Genethliacs; by meteors, Meteoromancy[obs3]; by winds, Austromancy[obs3]; by sacrificial appearances, Aruspicy (or Haruspicy)[obs3], Hieromancy[obs3], Hieroscopy[obs3]; by the entrails of animals sacrificed, Extispicy[obs3], Hieromancy[obs3]; by the entrails of a human sacrifice, Anthropomancy[obs3]; by the entrails of fishes, Ichthyomancy[obs3]; by sacrificial fire, Pyromancy[obs3]; by red-hot iron, Sideromancy[obs3]; by smoke from the altar, Capnomancy[obs3]; by mice, Myomancy[obs3]; by birds, Orniscopy[obs3], Ornithomancy[obs3]; by a cock picking up grains, Alectryomancy (or Alectromancy)[obs3]; by fishes, Ophiomancy[obs3]; by herbs, Botanomancy[obs3]; by water, Hydromancy[obs3]; by fountains, Pegomancy[obs3]; by a wand, Rhabdomancy; by dough of cakes, Crithomancy[obs3]; by meal, Aleuromancy[obs3], Alphitomancy[obs3]; by salt, Halomancy[obs3]; by dice, Cleromancy[obs3]; by arrows, Belomancy[obs3]; by a balanced hatchet, Axinomancy[obs3]; by a balanced sieve, Coscinomancy[obs3]; by a suspended ring, Dactyliomancy[obs3]; by dots made at random on paper, Geomancy[obs3]; by precious stones, Lithomancy[obs3]; by pebbles, Pessomancy[obs3]; by pebbles drawn from a heap, Psephomancy[obs3]; by mirrors, Catoptromancy[obs3]; by writings in ashes, Tephramancy[obs3]; by dreams, Oneiromancy[obs3]; by the hand, Palmistry, Chiromancy; by nails reflecting the sun's rays, Onychomancy[obs3]; by finger rings, Dactylomancy[obs3]; by numbers, Arithmancy[obs3]; by drawing lots, Sortilege[obs3]; by passages in books, Stichomancy[obs3]; by the letters forming the name of the person, Onomancy[obs3], Nomancy; by the features, Anthroposcopy[obs3]; by the mode of laughing, Geloscopy[obs3]; by ventriloquism, Gastromancy[obs3]; by walking in a circle, Gyromancy[obs3]; by dropping melted wax into water, Ceromancy[obs3]; by currents, Bletonism; by the color and peculiarities of wine, Œnomancy[obs3].

#512. Omen.—N. omen, portent, presage, prognostic, augury, auspice; sign &c. (indication) 550; harbinger &c. (precursor) 64; yule candle|!. bird of ill omen; signs of the times; gathering clouds; warning &c. 668. prefigurement &c. 511. Adj. ill-boding. Phr. auspicium melioris aevi[Lat][obs3].

#513. Oracle.—N. oracle; prophet, prophesier, seer, soothsayer, augur, fortune teller, crystal gazer[obs3], witch, geomancer[obs3], aruspex[obs3]; aruspice[obs3], haruspice[obs3]; haruspex; astrologer, star gazer[obs3]; Sibyl; Python, Pythoness[obs3]; Pythia; Pythian oracle, Delphian oracle; Monitor, Sphinx, Tiresias, Cassandra[obs3], Sibylline leaves; Zadkiel, Old Moore; sorcerer &c. 994; interpreter &c. 524. [person who predicts by non-mystical (natural) means] predictor, prognosticator, forecaster; weather forecaster, weatherman. Phr. a prophet is without honor in his own country; "you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" [Bob Dylan].

SECTION VII. CREATIVE THOUGHT

#514. Supposition.—N. supposition, assumption, assumed position, postulation, condition, presupposition, hypothesis, blue sky hypothesis, postulate, postulatum[Lat], theory; thesis, theorem; data; proposition, position; proposal &c. (plan) 626; presumption &c. (belief) 484; divination. conjecture; guess, guesswork, speculation; rough guess, shot, shot in the dark [coll.]; conjecturality[obs3]; surmise, suspicion, sneaking suspicion; estimate, approximation (nearness) 197. inkling, suggestion, hint, intimation, notion, impression; bare supposition, vague supposition, loose supposition, loose suggestion. association of ideas, (analogy) 514a; metonym[Gram], metonymy[Gram], simile (metaphor) 521. conceit, idea, thought; original idea, invention (imagination) 515. V. suppose, conjecture, surmise, suspect, guess, divine; theorize; presume, presurmise[obs3], presuppose; assume, fancy, wis[obs3], take it; give a guess, speculate, believe, dare say, take it into one's head, take for granted; imagine &c. 515. put forth; propound, propose; start, put a case, submit, move, make a motion; hazard out, throw out a suggestion, put forward a suggestion, put forward conjecture. allude to, suggest, hint, put it into one's head. suggest itself &c. (thought) 451; run in the head &c. (memory) 505; marvel if, wonder if, wonder whether. Adj. supposing &c. v.; given, mooted, postulatory[obs3]; assumed &c. v.; supposititious, suppositive[obs3], suppositious; gratuitous, speculative, conjectural, hypothetical, theoretical, academic, supposable, presumptive, putative; suppositional. suggestive, allusive. Adv. if, if so be; an; on the supposition &c. n.;ex hypothesi[Lat]; in the case, in the event of; quasi, as if, provided; perhaps &c. (by possibility) 470; for aught one knows.

#514a. Analogy—N. analogy, association, association of ideas. metaphor &c. 521. analogical thinking; free association; train of thought. Adj. analogical.

#515. Imagination.—N. imagination; originality; invention; fancy; inspiration; verve. warm imagination, heated imagination, excited imagination, sanguine imagination, ardent imagination, fiery imagination, boiling imagination, wild imagination, bold imagination, daring imagination, playful imagination, lively imagination, fertile imagination, fancy. "mind's eye"; "such stuff as dreams are made of" [Tempest]. ideality, idealism; romanticism, utopianism, castle-building. dreaming; phrensy[obs3], frenzy; ecstasy, extasy[obs3]; calenture &c. (delirium) 503[obs3]; reverie, trance; day dream, golden dream; somnambulism. conception, Vorstellung[Ger], excogitation[obs3], "a fine frenzy"; cloudland[obs3], dreamland; flight of fancy, fumes of fancy; "thick coming fancies" [Macbeth]; creation of the brain, coinage of the brain; imagery. conceit, maggot, figment, myth, dream, vision, shadow, chimera; phantasm, phantasy; fantasy, fancy; whim, whimsey[obs3], whimsy; vagary, rhapsody, romance, gest[obs3], geste[obs3], extravaganza; air drawn dagger, bugbear, nightmare. flying Dutchman, great sea serpent, man in the moon, castle in the air, pipe dream, pie-in-the-sky, chateau en Espagne[Fr]; Utopia, Atlantis[obs3], happy valley, millennium, fairyland; land of Prester John, kingdom of Micomicon; work of fiction &c. (novel) 594; Arabian nights[obs3]; le pot au lait[Fr]; dream of Alnashar &c. (hope) 858[obs3]. illusion &c. (error) 495; phantom &c. (fallacy of vision) 443; Fata Morgana &c. (ignis fatuus) 423[Lat]; vapor &c. (cloud) 353; stretch of the imagination &c. (exaggeration) 549; mythogenesis[obs3]. idealist, romanticist, visionary; mopus[obs3]; romancer, dreamer; somnambulist; rhapsodist &c. (fanatic) 504; castle-buildier, fanciful projector. V. imagine, fancy, conceive; idealize, realize; dream, dream of, dream up; "give to airy nothing a local habitation and a name" [Midsummer Night's Dream]. create, originate, devise, invent, coin, fabricate; improvise, strike out something new. set one's wits to work; strain one's invention, crack one's invention; rack one's brains, ransack one's brains, cudgel one's brains; excogitate[obs3]; brainstorm. give play, give the reins, give a loose to the imagination, give fancy; indulge in reverie. visualize, envision, conjure up a vision; fancy oneself, represent oneself, picture, picture-oneself, figure to oneself; vorstellen[Ger]. float in the mind; suggest itself &c. (thought) 451. Adj. imagined &c. v.; ben trovato[It]; air drawn, airbuilt[obs3]. imagining &cv. v, imaginative; original, inventive, creative, fertile. romantic, high flown, flighty, extravagant, fanatic, enthusiastic, unrealistic, Utopian, Quixotic. ideal, unreal; in the clouds, in nubibus[Lat]; unsubsantial[obs3] &c. 4; illusory &c. (fallacious) 495. fabulous, legendary; mythical, mythic, mythological; chimerical; imaginary, visionary; notional; fancy, fanciful, fantastic, fantastical[obs3]; whimsical; fairy, fairy-like; gestic[obs3]. Phr. "a change came o'er the spirit of my dream" [Byron]; aegri somnia vana[Lat][obs3]; dolphinum appingit sylvis in fluctibus aprum [obs3][Latin][Horace]; "fancy light from fancy caught" [Tennyson]; "imagination rules the world" [Napoleon]; l'imagination gallope[Fr], le jugement ne va que le pas[French]; musaeo contingens cuncta lepore [Latin][Lucretius]; tous songes sont mensonges[French]; Wahrheil und Dichtung[German].