Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
ASTROLOGY
astrology, star divination
(noun) a pseudoscience claiming divination by the positions of the planets and sun and moon
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
astrology (usually uncountable, plural astrologies)
Divination about human affairs or natural phenomena from the relative positions of celestial bodies. [from 14th c.]
Synonyms
• starcraft, astrosophy, astromancy
Source: Wiktionary
As*trol"o*gy, n. Etym: [F. astrologie, L. astrologia, fr. Gr. Star.]
Definition: In its etymological signification, the science of the stars; among the ancients, synonymous with astronomy; subsequently, the art of judging of the influences of the stars upon human affairs, and of foretelling events by their position and aspects.
Note: Astrology was much in vogue during the Middle Ages, and became the parent of modern astronomy, as alchemy did of chemistry. It was divided into two kinds: judicial astrology, which assumed to foretell the fate and acts of nations and individuals, and natural astrology, which undertook to predict events of inanimate nature, such as changes of the weather, etc.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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8 January 2025
SYCAMORE
(noun) Eurasian maple tree with pale grey bark that peels in flakes like that of a sycamore tree; leaves with five ovate lobes yellow in autumn
Coffee Trivia
