hocus-pocus
A phrase used as a magical incantation to bring about some change: abracadabra, hey prestoA phrase used (by a stage magician, etc.) as a magical incantation to bring about some change: abracadabra, hey presto.
Meaning
1 sensesA phrase used (by a stage magician, etc.) as a magical incantation to bring about some change: abracadabra, hey presto.
Hokuspokus, Abrakadabra, Simsalabim
фо́кус-по́кусfókus-pókus, ахала́й-махала́йaxaláj-maxaláj, си́м-салаби́мsím-salabím
фо́кус-по́кусfókus-pókus
Translations
8 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
Pseudo-Latinism. The interjection and noun are derived from pseudo-Latin magical incantatiPseudo-Latinism. 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.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.