Necromancy is magic worked by calling on the dead. Practise necromancy, accused of necromancy, forbidden necromancy.
The Greek means divination by the dead, and the point was to learn the future from them rather than to raise armies — that is a later fantasy invention. Medieval Latin reshaped the word towards niger, black, which is where black magic comes from.
1nounnecromancyMagic worked by calling on the dead.
“The wizard in the story used necromancy to raise an army of the dead.”
necromancy is a magic.
Greek nekromanteia is nekros, a corpse, plus manteia, divination. Medieval Latin reshaped it towards niger, black.
Ancient Greek
νεκρομαντεία
Latin
necromantia
Medieval Latin
nigromantia
Old French
nigromancie
Middle English
nigromancye
English, today
necromancy
Built from
Circa 1300, from Middle English nigromancye, from Old French nigromancie, from Medieval Latin nigromantia, from Latin necromantia, from Ancient Greek νεκρομαντεία, νεκρός (“dead”) + μαντεία (“divination”). Medieval Latin spelling, incorporating niger (“black”), influenced by the notion of black art. Modern spelling adopted in mid-1500s. by surface analysis, necro- + -mancy.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA