A-lĕc'try̆-o-măn'çy, n.

n. [Gr. ἀλεκτρυών, cock, and μαντεία, divination.] An ancient practice of foretelling events by means of a cock. The letters of the alphabet were traced on the ground, and a grain of corn laid on each; a cock was then permitted to pick up the grains, and the letters under the grains selected, being formed into words, were supposed to foretell the event desired. Encyc. Brit.