'aspidomancy' originates from Greek, specifically from 'aspis' meaning 'shield' and 'manteia' meaning 'divination', combined in English with the suffix '-mancy' (from Greek 'manteia').

'aspidomancy' is a modern English formation built from the Greek roots 'aspis' + 'manteia'; terms formed with '-mancy' were modeled on older classical and medieval coinages for types of divination and entered English usage as rare learned/coined words.

Initially it referred specifically to divination involving a shield, and that specific meaning has been preserved in its modern usage.