dowser

English

Etymology

From dowse +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdaʊzə/
• Rhymes: -aʊzə(ɹ)

Noun

dowser (plural dowsers)

1. A divining rod used in searching for water, ore, etc.; a dowsing rod.

   Synonyms: divining rod, dowsing rod

   Coordinate term: doodlebug

2. One who uses the dowser or divining rod. A diviner.

   Synonyms: rhabdomantist, rhabdomancer, radiesthesist

   • 1996, Richard Webster, Dowsing for Beginners: The Art of Discovering Water, Treasure, Gold, Oil, Artifacts, Llewellyn Worldwide, →ISBN:

     Interestingly enough, John Mullins, the celebrated English dowser, was able to do this experiment using a forked twig, rather than a pendulum. He claimed to be able to locate nothing but water with his dowsing rod.

   • 2002, Michael Shermer, The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 93:

     The instrument a dowser uses is called a dowsing rod, dowsing stick, doodlebug (when used to locate oil), or divining rod. Almost any item can be used for this purpose: a birch twig, a whalebone, and even a hanger.

   • 2003, William Gibson, Pattern Recognition (Bigend cycle; book 1), New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, page 2:

     Google Cayce and you will find “coolhunter,” and if you look closely you may see it suggested that she is a “sensitive” of some kind, a dowser in the world of global marketing.

Translations

divining rod — see divining rod

one who uses the dowser or divining rod

• Catalan: saurí (ca) m, rabdomàntic m, rabdomàntica f, rabdomant
• Finnish: kaivonkatsoja (fi)
• French: rhabdomancien (fr) m, rhabdomancienne (fr) f, baguettisant (fr) m, baguettisante (fr) f, sourcier (fr) m, sourcière (fr) f, radiesthésiste (fr) m or f
• Galician: rabdomante m
• German: Rutengänger (de) m, Rutengängerin (de) f, Wünschelrutengänger (de) m, Wünschelrutengängerin (de) f, Wünschelrutengeher m, Wünschelrutengeherin f, Rhabdomant m, Rhabdomantin f
• Greek: ραβδοσκόπος (el) m or f (ravdoskópos)
• Ido: hidroskopo (io)
• Irish: aimsitheoir uisce m, collóir m
• Italian: rabdomante (it) m or f
• Latin: aquilex m
• Marathi: जलशोधक m (jalśodhak), पानाडी m (pānāḍī), पानाड्या m (pānāḍyā)
• Polish: różdżkarz m, różdżkarka f, radiesteta m, radiestetka f
• Portuguese: rabdomante m or f, vedor (pt) m
• Spanish: zahorí (es) m, rabdomante (es) m or f

See also

• rhabdomancy

Further reading

• dowsing on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “dowser”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Dowers, Sowder, dowers, drowse, sworde, wordes, worsed