fortune teller

See also: fortune-teller and fortuneteller

English

Alternative forms

fortune-teller, fortuneteller

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔːt͡ʃuːn ˈtɛlə/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfoɹt͡ʃun ˈtɛlɚ/, /-t͡ʃən ˈtɛlɚ/
Audio (General American): (file)

Noun

fortune teller (plural fortune tellers)

A person who professes to predict the future in return for money.
"Cross my palm with silver and I'll tell you your fortune," said the fortune teller.
- 1997, Scott Cutler, Anne Preven, Phil Thornalley, “Torn”, in Left of the Middle, performed by Natalie Imbruglia:
  So I guess the fortune teller's right / I should've seen just what was there
A cootie catcher.
- 2006, Andrew Wright, David Betteridge, Michael Buckby, Games for Language Learning, page 137:
  The usual exchange between English children is as follows: A: Who do you love? (referring to one of the names on the fortune-teller) B: Simon. A: S-I-M-O-N (alternately opens and shuts the device as he or she says each letter).

Derived terms

paper fortune teller

Translations

person who professes to predict the future in return for money — see also haruspex,‎ seer,‎ clairvoyant,‎ foreseer,‎ palmist,‎ augur

Afrikaans: fortuinverteller, toekomsverteller
Armenian: գուշակ (hy) (gušak)
Azerbaijani: falçı
Bashkir: күрәҙә (kürəźə), күрәҙәсе (kürəźəse)
Bulgarian: врачка (bg) f (vračka)
Catalan: endeví m, endevina f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 算命家 (zh) (suànmìngjiā), (business) 擇日館 / 择日馆 (zh) (zháirìguǎn)
Dutch: wichelaar (nl) m, wichelaarster (nl) f, waarzegger (nl) m
Esperanto: aŭguradisto, aŭguradistino, aŭguristo, divenisto
Finnish: ennustaja (fi), povari (fi)
French: diseur de bonne aventure (fr) m, diseuse de bonne aventure (fr) f
Frisian:
West Frisian: wikker c
Galician: vidente m or f, adiviño m, carteiro (gl) m
Georgian: მკითხავი (mḳitxavi)
German: Wahrsager (de) m, Wahrsagerin (de) f
Greek: χαρτομάντης (el) m (chartomántis), χαρτομάντισσα (el) f (chartomántissa), μάντης (el) m (mántis), μάντισσα (el) f (mántissa), χειρομάντισσα (el) f (cheiromántissa), χειρομάντης (el) m (cheiromántis)
Hebrew: מַגִּיד עֲתִידוֹת (he) m (magíd 'atidót), מַגֶּדֶת עֲתִידוֹת f (magédet 'atidót)
Hungarian: jós (hu) m, jósnő (hu) f, jövendőmondó (hu) c
Icelandic: (♂) spámaður m, (♀) spákona f
Irish: bean feasa f (female)
Italian: indovina (it) f, indovino (it) m, divinatore m, divinatrice m, (literary) vate m
Japanese: 占い師 (ja) (うらないし, uranaishi)
Kazakh: жауырыншы (jauyrynşy)
Kikuyu: mũragũri class 1
Latin: hariolus m, hariola f
Macedonian: га́тачка f (gátačka)
Norman: dîs'resse f, d'vîn m
Persian: پیشگو (fa) (pišgu)
Plautdietsch: Woasaja m
Polish: wróżbiarz (pl) m, wróżbiarka (pl) f, wróż (pl) m, wróżka (pl) f, wróżbita (pl) m, wróżbitka (pl) f, jasnowidz (pl) m, jasnowidzka (pl) f, jasnowidzący m, jasnowidząca f
Portuguese: cartomante (pt) m or f, adivinho (pt) m
Romanian: ghicitor (ro) m, ghicitoare (ro) f
Russian: (♀ only) гада́лка (ru) f (gadálka), прорица́тель (ru) m (proricátelʹ), прорицательница (ru) f (proricatelʹnica)
Sanskrit: ज्ञानिन् (sa) m (jñānin)
Scots: (♂) spaeman, weirdman; (♀) spaewife, weirdwife
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: гатар m, гатара f, врач m, врачара f

Latin: gatar (sh) m, gatara (sh) f, vrač (sh) m, vračara (sh) f
Spanish: adivino (es) m, adivina (es) f, pitoniso m, agorero (es) m, vaticinador (es) m, vate (es) m or f
Swedish: spåman (sv) c, spåkvinna (sv) f
Tocharian B: pälkaucäkka
Turkish: falcı (tr)
Ottoman Turkish: فالجی (falcı)
Ukrainian: воро́жка f (voróžka), ворожби́тка f (vorožbýtka), ворожби́т m (vorožbýt), ворожі́й m (vorožíj)
Vietnamese: thầy bói (vi)
Volapük: (♂♀) büosagan (vo), (♂) hibüosagan, (♀) jibüosagan (vo)

cootie catcher — see cootie catcher