Need thesaurus-style help

Hey, I could use a hand from my fellow tropers, here.

I have a game script in which the magic is based on colors rather than elements. I originally called the magic "colormancy" but, honestly, that doesn't sound all that wonderful.

Can someone help me brainstorm up a better name? I'd be eternally grateful!

Chromamancy, perhaps?

There is a thread for this, but here's a free suggestion straight from this moi.

How about Chromancy? At least that uses the latin root which will be more likely to seem mystic and shit.

Sorry, the thread in question didn't pop out at me, and isn't listed in the FAQ that I could find.

Hmm, I thought the Latin word for color was simply color? Still, chroma is nicer sounding, certainly.

edited 25th Jan '12 7:29:09 AM by ccoa

Chroma is Greek. (And technically, it should be "chromatomancy", but you decide.)

Looking at the -mancy part of it, it doesn't really fit. It has nothing to do with divination. Possible alternatives are -goetic or -theurgy, but I haven't found a good way to combine them yet.

Chromatotheurgy? Quite a mounthful.

Not -theurgy — that's "working through a god". You'd want simply -urgy — "working".

Chromaturgy would be serviceable Greek.

Yeah, I really like "chromaturgy".

Chromatogoesis? Chromagoesis? Either sounds nice and mysterious, though still long. ('theurgy', while somewhat better than 'mancy' which implies divination specifically, still implies that the energy being shaped comes from some sort of god, which it may or may not.)

Color, in this world, is a metaphor for human creativity and potential. The nuts and bolts of it are never gotten into in-story, but in the world building it's simply that color in all things is a side-effect of possessing magical power, no matter how small. The source could be divine, but it's pretty far removed.

(Yes, I know color is caused by reflected light. It's a fantasy world. In this particular world, everything has some magic, and it's color or colors reflects what type. If it loses its magic, it loses its color. When the story opens, almost all the color in the world is gone and the current generation mostly thinks color is a myth.)

I'm leaning towards Chromaturgy. It'll fit on the menu screens a little nicer! ^_^

edited 25th Jan '12 9:13:40 AM by ccoa

That's a nice side benefit.

Color has any sort of connection with knowledge/wisdom, it could also be chromagnosis.

Or should we be looking for non-"chroma" words? Spectromancy?

edited 25th Jan '12 10:21:52 AM by jewelleddragon

Spectrum would also work, although I worry that people might think it's anachronistic for the setting. It's a steampunk-ish fantasy setting, which would place it after the word was first applied to optics in our world, but I doubt everyone knows that.

-Gnosis is an awesome root. ...Damn, now I have to choose.

edited 25th Jan '12 11:23:19 AM by ccoa

Gnosis is "the state of knowing". "gnos" is the root (know) — Gnos-tics are "those who know"; gnos-ti-cism is "the belief that knowledge is attainable", i-gno-rance is "the condition of lacking knowledge", and so on.

-logy is "study of", "science of", "theory of"

-nomy: "law, rule"

-urgy is "working through"

-ic, -tic: "pertaining to, having to do with"

-sis: "act, state, condition of"

-ary, -ery, -ory: "relating to"

edited 25th Jan '12 1:38:09 PM by Madrugada

Easy - use the -urgy for the menus (well, you're using them to work, no?) - but, the whole system can get the full Gnosis-y gloss in the description. Best of all worlds.

edited 25th Jan '12 1:07:41 PM by Euodiachloris