incantation
/ɪnkænˈteɪʃən/
incantation · noun — the act or process of using formulas and/or usually rhyming words, sung or spoken, with occult ceremonies, for the purpose of raising spirits, producing enchantment, or creating other magical results. It carries an Arena rating of 2030, earned across 34 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, incantation ranks #133 of 43,026 for Qualifying, #1,200 of 17,197 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #1,264 of 17,188 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,982 of 17,165 for Most Satisfying to Say.
incantation is pronounced /ɪnkænˈteɪʃən/.
Why “incantation” is a great word
A formula of words spoken or sung as part of a ritual to produce a magical effect. From Middle English incantacioun, from Old French incantation, from Latin incantatio ("enchantment, spell"), from incantare ("to enchant, bewitch"), from in- ("in, upon") + cantare ("to sing, chant"), first attested in English in the 14th century. Unlike a prayer, which is a petition, or an invocation, which is a summons, an incantation is a verbal mechanism designed to compel reality through its very utterance. It is the witch's cadence over a bubbling vessel, the shaman's drone dissolving the boundary between worlds, the whispered rhyme to ward off the dark—a testament to the ancient faith that sound, in the right order, can for a moment impose its own law.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From Middle English incantacioun, from Old French incantation, from Latin incantatio. More at enchant.
noun
- The act or process of using formulas and/or usually rhyming words, sung or spoken, with occult ceremonies, for the purpose of raising spirits, producing enchantment, or creating other magical results.e.g.“new years eve we dropped mushrooms / and danced around the house / making music with everything that we found / incantation replaced resolution” — 2008, “Red Letter Year”, in Red Letter Year, performed by Ani Difranco:
- A formula of words used as above.
- Any esoteric command or procedure.e.g.“The appropriate incantation of route is shown below; the gw keyword tells it that the next argument denotes a gateway.” — 1998, John Purcell, Robert Kiesling, Linux: The Complete Reference: Book 1, page 412:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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