Refine this word faster
Hocus-pocus
Definitions
- 1 A phrase used (by a stage magician, etc.) as a magical incantation to bring about some change: abracadabra, hey presto.
- 1 Some ineffectual action or speech, especially if intended to divert attention; nonsense. uncountable, usually
- 2 verbal misrepresentation intended to take advantage of you in some way wordnet
- 3 Religious or supernatural phenomena one holds to be nonsense or mere trickery; superstitious mumbo-jumbo. derogatory, uncountable, usually
"How was it possible that I, a rational man, not unacquainted with the leading scientific facts of our history, and hitherto an absolute and utter disbeliever in all the hocus-pocus which in Europe goes by the name of the supernatural, could believe that I had within the last few minutes been engaged in conversation with a woman two thousand and odd years old?"
- 4 a meaningless chant or expression used in conjuring or incantation. wordnet
- 5 Some action carried out to bring about change as if by magic; a trick; sleight of hand, trickery. US, also, attributive, countable, uncountable, usually
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 A conjurer. countable, obsolete, usually
- 7 A conjurer's trick. countable, obsolete, usually
- 1 To play tricks or practise sleight of hand (on someone); (by extension) to cheat, to deceive. ambitransitive, colloquial, dated
"[T]hat which we call Good Humour, is in Truth but a ſort of Slight of Hand in Diſcourſe, or a Faculty of making Truths look like Appearances, or Appearances like Truths. Now this Gift of Hocus Pocuſing, and of Diſguiſing Matters, is ſo Surpriſing and Agreeable on the one hand, that it muſt of Neceſſity be a very ſtrong Temptation to the Quitting of the Beaten Road on the other."
Etymology
The interjection and noun are derived from pseudo-Latin magical incantations used by conjurers (formerly called “jugglers”) such as “hocus pocus, tontus talontus, vade celeriter jubeo” (by a particular 17th-century conjurer who allegedly adopted the moniker Hocus Pocus) and “hax pax max Deus adimax”. The suggestion that the term is a corruption of words from the Roman Catholic liturgy of the Eucharist, “hoc est enim corpus meum” (“this is my [i.e., Jesus’s] body”), was made in a sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Tillotson (1630–1694), but is not generally accepted. The verb is derived from the noun.
The interjection and noun are derived from pseudo-Latin magical incantations used by conjurers (formerly called “jugglers”) such as “hocus pocus, tontus talontus, vade celeriter jubeo” (by a particular 17th-century conjurer who allegedly adopted the moniker Hocus Pocus) and “hax pax max Deus adimax”. The suggestion that the term is a corruption of words from the Roman Catholic liturgy of the Eucharist, “hoc est enim corpus meum” (“this is my [i.e., Jesus’s] body”), was made in a sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Tillotson (1630–1694), but is not generally accepted. The verb is derived from the noun.
The interjection and noun are derived from pseudo-Latin magical incantations used by conjurers (formerly called “jugglers”) such as “hocus pocus, tontus talontus, vade celeriter jubeo” (by a particular 17th-century conjurer who allegedly adopted the moniker Hocus Pocus) and “hax pax max Deus adimax”. The suggestion that the term is a corruption of words from the Roman Catholic liturgy of the Eucharist, “hoc est enim corpus meum” (“this is my [i.e., Jesus’s] body”), was made in a sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Tillotson (1630–1694), but is not generally accepted. The verb is derived from the noun.
See also for "hocus-pocus"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: hocuspocus