(κοσκίνων a sieve, and παρεῖα divination), the art or practice of divination by suspending a sieve and taking it between two fingers, or by fixing it to a pair of shears, then repeating a formula of words and naming the persons suspected of some offence. If the sieve trembled, shook, or turned when any name was repeated, that person was deemed guilty of the evil in question.

This species of divination is mentioned in the third idyl of Theocritus, and was in use within a recent period in some parts of England.