grimoire means A book of instructions in the use of alchemy or magic, especially one containing spells for summoning demons.
grimoire is pronounced /ˈɡɹɪmwɑː/.
Why “grimoire” is a great word
A manual of instructions for the practice of magic, most specifically a book of spells for summoning and commanding demons. Its lineage is one of corrupted scholarship: from the Ancient Greek γράμμα (grámma, "letter, something written"), from γράφω (gráphō, "to scratch, draw, write"), to Latin grammatica ("grammar; philology"), to the Old French gramaire ("grammar" but also, tellingly, "incantation"), and finally to the altered French form grimoire; ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ("to carve"). First recorded in English use 1850–60. Unlike "grammar" (which denotes the codified rules of language) or the generic "spellbook," a grimoire is a text of learned, perilous, and often illicit ceremony. It is the dry rasp of a parchment turned by candlelight, the iron tang of ink mixed with ash, the warmth of a palm pressed to cracked leather as if to still a beating heart within—a testament to the ancient, fearful belief that to truly command words is to command the world.
Etymology
Borrowed from French grimoire, a variant of grammaire, from Old French gramaire (“grammar; grimoire; conjurer, magician”), from Latin grammatica (“grammar; philology”), from grammaticus (“relating to grammar, grammatical”), from Ancient Greek γρᾰμμᾰτῐκός (grămmătĭkós, “knowing one's letters; concerned with textual criticism”), from γράμμα (grámma, “that which is drawn or written; letter; book, writing”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix added to noun stems to form adjectives). γράμμα is derived from γρᾰ́φω (grắphō, “to cut into, scratch; to draw, paint; to write”, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to carve”)) + -μᾰ (-mă, suffix added to verbal stems forming neuter nouns denoting the result of, a particular instance of, or the object of an action). The English word is a doublet of glamour,
noun
- A book of instructions in the use of alchemy or magic, especially one containing spells for summoning demons.“There is something exceedingly unpleasant in being obliged to answer "No," to a traveller's "Pray, Sir, were you ever abroad?" and to sit mum-chance all the time that he is running over the "grimoire" of outlandish technicalities. For my own part, I am convinced that man is, par excellence, a travelling animal; [...]”
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