Sortilege definition

From Old French sortilège, from mediæval Latin sortilegium, from Latin sortilegus ‘sorcerer, diviner’, from sors ‘sort’ + legere ‘choose’.

Witchcraft, magic, especially as a means of making decisions or predictions.
- 1819: We have therefore summoned to our presence a Jewish woman, by name Rebecca, daughter of Isaac of York — a woman infamous for sortileges and for witcheries — Walter Scott, Ivanhoe
- 2001: ‘Too much evil sortilege,’ Glad always says when someone suggests he open a franchise over Cheat Ridge. — JT Leroy, Sarah