'astromancy' originates from Greek, specifically the elements 'astron' and 'manteia', where 'astron' meant 'star' and 'manteia' meant 'divination' or 'prophecy'.

'astromancy' derived from Late Latin/Medieval Latin forms such as 'astromantia' (influenced by Greek 'astromanteia'), passed into Middle English as 'astromancie' or similar spellings, and eventually became modern English 'astromancy'.

Initially it meant 'divination by stars' in a literal sense, and this core meaning has largely been retained into modern usage (though now often marked as archaic or rare).