Brewer's: Haruspex

(pl. harus' pices). Persons who interpreted the will of the gods by inspecting the entrails of animals offered in sacrifice (old Latin, haruga, a victim; specio, I inspect). Cato said, “I wonder how one haruspex can keep from laughing when he sees another.”

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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