Two slightly different meanings of divinatio may be differentiated:
(i) Strictly speaking, divinatio is one of the three main operations which characterise emendatio, along with selectio and combinatio. Divinatio consists in correcting the alleged corrupted readings or corrupted textual passages only by conjecture, e.g. by providing additions, deletions or substitutions (see, among others, Avalle 1972, 111-112, and Luiselli Fadda 1994, 236-237).
(ii) Paul Maas, in his work Textkritik, gives divinatio a broader meaning, which is very close to the notion of emendatio ope ingenii (see emendatio and constitutio textus). Maas uses this term to designate the third and final stage of textual restoration.
References
– Avalle, D’Arco Silvio. 1972. Principî di critica testuale. Padova: Antenore.
– Luiselli Fadda, Anna Maria. 1994. Tradizioni manoscritte e critica del testo nel Medioevo germanico. Roma: Laterza.
– Maas, Paul. 1960. Textkritik. 4th ed. Leipzig: Teubner. – First ed. 1927.