See hocus-pocus in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for hocus-pocus meaning in English (26.6kB)
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"word": "hölynpöly"
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"masculine"
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"1": "interjection"
},
"expansion": "interjection",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "noun"
},
"expansion": "noun",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "That is, the Lord doth Avenge the Blood of the Innocent upon the Inhabitants of the Earth: This Book is Profitable to bee Read by All Judges of Assizes, before They Passe the Sentence of Condemnation against Poor People, who are Accused for Witchcraft; it is also Profitable for All Sorts of People to Read who Desire Knowledge."
},
"expansion": "[…]",
"name": "nb..."
},
{
"args": {
"1": "dwelling in Simithfield neer Hosier Lane End"
},
"expansion": "[…]",
"name": "nb..."
},
{
"args": {
"1": "Containing Fifty-four Sermons and Discourses, on Several Occasions. Together with the Rule of Faith. Being All that were Published by His Grace Himself, and Now Collected into One Volume. To which is Added, an Alphabetical Table of the Principal Matters."
},
"expansion": "[…]",
"name": "nb..."
},
{
"args": {
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},
"expansion": "[…]",
"name": "nb..."
},
{
"args": {
"1": "in Exchange Alley"
},
"expansion": "[…]",
"name": "nb..."
},
{
"args": {
"1": "in the Strand."
},
"expansion": "[…]",
"name": "nb..."
},
{
"args": {
"1": "verb"
},
"expansion": "verb",
"name": "glossary"
}
],
"etymology_text": "The interjection and noun are derived from made-up pseudo-Latin magical incantations used by conjurers (formerly called “jugglers”) such as “hocus pocus, tontus talontus, vade celeriter jubeo” (with a particular 17th-century conjurer adopting Hocus Pocus as his name) 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.\nThe verb is derived from the noun.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "hocus-pocuses",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "hocus-pocusses",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "hocuses-pocuses",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "hocusses-pocusses",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "hocus-pocusing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "hocus-pocussing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "hocusing-pocusing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "hocussing-pocussing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "hocus-pocused",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "hocus-pocused",
"tags": [
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "hocus-pocussed",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "hocus-pocussed",
"tags": [
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "hocused-pocused",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "hocused-pocused",
"tags": [
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "hocussed-pocussed",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "hocussed-pocussed",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "((hocus-pocus<>,hocus-pocus<++>,hocus<>-pocus<>,hocus<++>-pocus<++>))"
},
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"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"ho‧cus-po‧cus"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1846, Thomas Campbell Foster, “Challenge to Mr. O’Connell to Prove the Condition of His Estate.—Waterford; Its Neglected Advantages and Capabilities.”, in Letters on the Condition of the People of Ireland, London: Chapman and Hall, […], footnote, pages 457–458",
"text": "But it was possible to say something about Cahirciveen—that it has a nunnery, a market-house, a reading-room. and a Fever Hospital, and, being just two miles from the Valentia slate-quarry, that its houses are slated; but it was impossible to say a single word in defence of Derrynane Beg;—so the two, though seventeen miles apart, were “hocussed-pocussed” together, and it all went down as gospel in Conciliation Hall, that because the houses of Cahirciveen were slated from the quarry close by, ergo, my description of the wretched hovels of Derrynane Beg with their rotten potato-stalk thatches, was monstrously incorrect.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1865, W[illiam] C[arew] Hazlitt, “Further Glimpses of Uncle Tom”, in Sophy Laurie: A Novel, volume III, London: John Maxwell and Company, […], page 197",
"text": "She was fair and above board dealing with her, and no hocusing-pocusing, and every farthing paid to the last shilling, though she did remark that sherry might have been three-and-six, and four were ru’nation ’igh.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1871, G. T. Lowth, chapter IX, in The Morrices; or, The Doubtful Marriage, volume III, London: Hurst and Blackett, […], page 227",
"text": "But jest argufy this t’other way, and then see how it’d be; for there ain’t no ladies as go marrying Codlings and Humpys—begging your pardon, Mr. Humpy—and Chequerses—not they; they’d be right down hocussed-pocussed and back-parloured in no time; and so, you see, it ain’t according, and all you said about veal pies and oat-cakes goes for nothing, Mr. Humpy.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1897, Andrew Balfour, “Of the Taking of the Donna Bella”, in By Stroke of Sword: […], London: Methuen and Company, […], page 161",
"text": "He was an admirable mimic, so that he kept us roaring with laughter, as he hocussed-pocussed, and fussed and fumed like the former captain of the Water Sprite.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1903, Leaves of Healing, section “False Representations of the Christ”, page 304, column 2",
"text": "The curse of the Church today is that large portions of the church represent the Christ either as a baby in a mother’s arms, a dead man on a crucifix, or, as in the blasphemous idolatry of the mass, which declares that a bit of bread, stamped by the hand of a priest and hocused-pocused with his Latin, has been transformed into the body, blood and bones of Jesus, the Christ.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1903, Railway Times, page 67, column 1",
"text": "There was no adequate principle at all in beginning with the gross income of a railway company, and when they came to deal with deductions they would be hocussed-pocussed in the Law Courts, and would have an abiding code of procedure which, even if they got a new tribunal, would be difficult to overcome.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1916, The American Photo Engraver, page 131, column 2; 132, column 1",
"text": "The holidays usually serve as a source of happiness to the majority of us; but to George Ross they bring back with great forcefulness the bitter remembrance of the time he was hocused-pocused on Main Street quite some time ago.[…]After ten minutes more of continual hocusing pocusing” it dawned upon George that he was the guy that had been “hocused pocused.”",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1917, Annual Report, Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Baltimore, page 39, column 1",
"text": "Can it be that under this Bill Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County are going to be hocussed-pocussed out of their valuable public properties?",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1948, Music Reporter, page 135, column 4",
"text": "Indeed, when he played the Liszt Variations on Bach’s “Weinen, Klagen, Zagen,” he did it in a way that left one somewhat hocussed-pocussed.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1993, Gerard Flynn, The Bronx Boy: No More Awnings in the Bronx, page 120",
"text": "I am convinced some mauvais génie has done this deliberately, some perverse descendant of the Enlightenment, an impish fool who gets his kicks by hocussing-pocussing religion;",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1996, Alan Isler, chapter 4, in Kraven Images, Random House, published 2011",
"text": "Hocusing-pocusing, / Didi von Hoden, / Wagnerian temptress and Circean witch, / Shimmied and shook herself / While she was wearing, e- / Rotomaniac’lly, / Nary a stitch.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To play tricks or practise sleight of hand (on someone); (by extension) to cheat, to deceive."
],
"id": "en-hocus-pocus-en-verb-FcfX6hu2",
"links": [
[
"transitive",
"transitive"
],
[
"intransitive",
"intransitive"
],
[
"play",
"play#Verb"
],
[
"tricks",
"trick#Noun"
],
[
"practise",
"practise"
],
[
"sleight of hand",
"sleight of hand"
],
[
"cheat",
"cheat#Verb"
],
[
"deceive",
"deceive"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive, intransitive, colloquial, dated) To play tricks or practise sleight of hand (on someone); (by extension) to cheat, to deceive."
],
"tags": [
"colloquial",
"dated",
"intransitive",
"transitive"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌhəʊkəs ˈpəʊkəs/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌhoʊkəs ˈpoʊkəs/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/-kɪs/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-əʊkəs"
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-hocus-pocus.wav",
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"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
],
"text": "Audio (RP)"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Archbishop of Canterbury",
"Jesus",
"John Tillotson",
"Robert Ibbitson"
],
"word": "hocus-pocus"
}
{
"categories": [
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"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English interjections",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English nouns with irregular plurals",
"English pseudo-loans from Latin",
"English reduplications",
"English rhyming phrases",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English uncountable nouns",
"English verbs",
"Rhymes:English/əʊkəs",
"Rhymes:English/əʊkəs/4 syllables",
"en:Magic words"
],
"etymology_templates": [
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"1": "interjection"
},
"expansion": "interjection",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
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"expansion": "noun",
"name": "glossary"
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{
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},
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{
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},
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"name": "nb..."
},
{
"args": {
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"expansion": "verb",
"name": "glossary"
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"etymology_text": "The interjection and noun are derived from made-up pseudo-Latin magical incantations used by conjurers (formerly called “jugglers”) such as “hocus pocus, tontus talontus, vade celeriter jubeo” (with a particular 17th-century conjurer adopting Hocus Pocus as his name) 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.\nThe verb is derived from the noun.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "hocus-pocus",
"name": "en-interj"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"ho‧cus-po‧cus"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "intj",
"senses": [
{
"glosses": [
"A phrase used (by a stage magician, etc.) as a magical incantation to bring about some change: abracadabra, hey presto."
],
"links": [
[
"phrase",
"phrase#Noun"
],
[
"used",
"use#Verb"
],
[
"stage",
"stage#Noun"
],
[
"magician",
"magician#English"
],
[
"magical",
"magical#English"
],
[
"incantation",
"incantation#English"
],
[
"bring about",
"bring about#English"
],
[
"change",
"change#Noun"
],
[
"abracadabra",
"abracadabra"
],
[
"hey presto",
"hey presto"
]
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌhəʊkəs ˈpəʊkəs/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌhoʊkəs ˈpoʊkəs/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/-kɪs/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
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},
{
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"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
],
"text": "Audio (RP)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "hocus pocus"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "be",
"lang": "Belarusian",
"roman": "fókus-pókus",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "фо́кус-по́кус"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"word": "abracadabra"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "hokus pokus"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "hocus pocus"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"word": "hokkuspokkus"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "hocus-pocus"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"word": "abracadabra"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Hokuspokus"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "Abrakadabra"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "Simsalabim"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"word": "hókuszpókusz"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"word": "abracadabra"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "chichin-puipui",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"word": "ちちんぷいぷい"
},
{
"code": "la",
"lang": "Latin",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"word": "abracadābra"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"word": "hokus-pokus"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"word": "abracadabra"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "fókus-pókus",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "фо́кус-по́кус"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"tags": [
"Cyrillic",
"masculine"
],
"word": "хо̀кус-по̀кус"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"tags": [
"Roman",
"masculine"
],
"word": "hòkus-pòkus"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"word": "abracadabra"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"word": "hokuspokus"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"word": "hokus pokus filiokus"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"word": "abrakadabra"
},
{
"code": "uk",
"lang": "Ukrainian",
"roman": "fókus-pókus",
"sense": "phrase used as a magical incantation",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "фо́кус-по́кус"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Archbishop of Canterbury",
"Jesus",
"John Tillotson",
"Robert Ibbitson"
],
"word": "hocus-pocus"
}
{
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"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English interjections",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English nouns with irregular plurals",
"English pseudo-loans from Latin",
"English reduplications",
"English rhyming phrases",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English uncountable nouns",
"English verbs",
"Rhymes:English/əʊkəs",
"Rhymes:English/əʊkəs/4 syllables",
"en:Magic words"
],
"derived": [
{
"tags": [
"possibly"
],
"word": "hanky-panky"
},
{
"word": "hokeypokey"
},
{
"word": "hokey pokey"
},
{
"word": "hocus-pocuser"
},
{
"word": "hocus-pocusser"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "interjection"
},
"expansion": "interjection",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "noun"
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"name": "glossary"
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{
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},
"expansion": "[…]",
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},
{
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},
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},
"expansion": "[…]",
"name": "nb..."
},
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"expansion": "[…]",
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}
],
"etymology_text": "The interjection and noun are derived from made-up pseudo-Latin magical incantations used by conjurers (formerly called “jugglers”) such as “hocus pocus, tontus talontus, vade celeriter jubeo” (with a particular 17th-century conjurer adopting Hocus Pocus as his name) 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.\nThe verb is derived from the noun.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "hocus-pocuses",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "hocus-pocusses",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "hoci-poci",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-",
"2": "+",
"3": "hocus-pocusses",
"4": "hoci-poci"
},
"expansion": "hocus-pocus (usually uncountable, plural hocus-pocuses or hocus-pocusses or hoci-poci)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"ho‧cus-po‧cus"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English uncountable nouns"
],
"glosses": [
"Some ineffectual action or speech, especially if intended to divert attention; nonsense."
],
"links": [
[
"ineffectual",
"ineffectual"
],
[
"action",
"action"
],
[
"speech",
"speech"
],
[
"intend",
"intend"
],
[
"divert",
"divert"
],
[
"attention",
"attention"
],
[
"nonsense",
"nonsense"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(uncountable) Some ineffectual action or speech, especially if intended to divert attention; nonsense."
],
"tags": [
"uncountable",
"usually"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English derogatory terms",
"English terms with quotations",
"English uncountable nouns"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 180",
"text": "The ego thinks that his local time and space is all there is to reality, and that the busy affairs of state and trade are more important than a lot of obscurantist hocus-pocus.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Religious or supernatural phenomena one holds to be nonsense or mere trickery; superstitious mumbo-jumbo."
],
"links": [
[
"derogatory",
"derogatory"
],
[
"Religious",
"religious"
],
[
"supernatural",
"supernatural"
],
[
"phenomena",
"phenomenon"
],
[
"holds",
"hold#Verb"
],
[
"trickery",
"trickery"
],
[
"superstitious",
"superstitious"
],
[
"mumbo-jumbo",
"mumbo-jumbo"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(uncountable, derogatory) Religious or supernatural phenomena one holds to be nonsense or mere trickery; superstitious mumbo-jumbo."
],
"tags": [
"derogatory",
"uncountable",
"usually"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"American English",
"English countable nouns",
"English uncountable nouns"
],
"glosses": [
"Some action carried out to bring about change as if by magic; a trick; sleight of hand, trickery."
],
"links": [
[
"carried out",
"carry out"
],
[
"bring about",
"bring about"
],
[
"change",
"change#Noun"
],
[
"magic",
"magic#Noun"
],
[
"trick",
"trick#Noun"
],
[
"sleight of hand",
"sleight of hand"
],
[
"trickery",
"trickery"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(countable, uncountable, chiefly US, also attributively) Some action carried out to bring about change as if by magic; a trick; sleight of hand, trickery."
],
"tags": [
"US",
"also",
"attributive",
"countable",
"uncountable",
"usually"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English terms with obsolete senses"
],
"glosses": [
"A conjurer."
],
"links": [
[
"conjurer",
"conjurer"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(countable, obsolete) A conjurer."
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"obsolete",
"usually"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English terms with obsolete senses"
],
"glosses": [
"A conjurer's trick."
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(countable, obsolete) A conjurer's trick."
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"obsolete",
"usually"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌhəʊkəs ˈpəʊkəs/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌhoʊkəs ˈpoʊkəs/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/-kɪs/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-əʊkəs"
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-hocus-pocus.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/75/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-I_learned_some_phrases-hocus-pocus.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-I_learned_some_phrases-hocus-pocus.wav.mp3",
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"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
],
"text": "Audio (RP)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "hocus and pocus"
},
{
"word": "hocuspocus"
},
{
"word": "hocus pocus"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "az",
"lang": "Azerbaijani",
"sense": "some (ineffectual) action carried out to bring about change as if by magic — see also nonsense, trick, trickery",
"word": "hoqqa"
},
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "fókus",
"sense": "some (ineffectual) action carried out to bring about change as if by magic — see also nonsense, trick, trickery",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "фо́кус"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "some (ineffectual) action carried out to bring about change as if by magic — see also nonsense, trick, trickery",
"word": "hokkuspokkus"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "some (ineffectual) action carried out to bring about change as if by magic — see also nonsense, trick, trickery",
"word": "hölynpöly"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "some (ineffectual) action carried out to bring about change as if by magic — see also nonsense, trick, trickery",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "abracadabra"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "some (ineffectual) action carried out to bring about change as if by magic — see also nonsense, trick, trickery",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Hokuspokus"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "some (ineffectual) action carried out to bring about change as if by magic — see also nonsense, trick, trickery",
"word": "hókuszpókusz"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "fókus",
"sense": "some (ineffectual) action carried out to bring about change as if by magic — see also nonsense, trick, trickery",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "фо́кус"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Archbishop of Canterbury",
"Jesus",
"John Tillotson",
"Robert Ibbitson"
],
"word": "hocus-pocus"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English interjections",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English nouns with irregular plurals",
"English pseudo-loans from Latin",
"English reduplications",
"English rhyming phrases",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English uncountable nouns",
"English verbs",
"Rhymes:English/əʊkəs",
"Rhymes:English/əʊkəs/4 syllables",
"en:Magic words"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "hocus-pocuser"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "interjection"
},
"expansion": "interjection",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "noun"
},
"expansion": "noun",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "That is, the Lord doth Avenge the Blood of the Innocent upon the Inhabitants of the Earth: This Book is Profitable to bee Read by All Judges of Assizes, before They Passe the Sentence of Condemnation against Poor People, who are Accused for Witchcraft; it is also Profitable for All Sorts of People to Read who Desire Knowledge."
},
"expansion": "[…]",
"name": "nb..."
},
{
"args": {
"1": "dwelling in Simithfield neer Hosier Lane End"
},
"expansion": "[…]",
"name": "nb..."
},
{
"args": {
"1": "Containing Fifty-four Sermons and Discourses, on Several Occasions. Together with the Rule of Faith. Being All that were Published by His Grace Himself, and Now Collected into One Volume. To which is Added, an Alphabetical Table of the Principal Matters."
},
"expansion": "[…]",
"name": "nb..."
},
{
"args": {
"1": "in Fleetstreet"
},
"expansion": "[…]",
"name": "nb..."
},
{
"args": {
"1": "in Exchange Alley"
},
"expansion": "[…]",
"name": "nb..."
},
{
"args": {
"1": "in the Strand."
},
"expansion": "[…]",
"name": "nb..."
},
{
"args": {
"1": "verb"
},
"expansion": "verb",
"name": "glossary"
}
],
"etymology_text": "The interjection and noun are derived from made-up pseudo-Latin magical incantations used by conjurers (formerly called “jugglers”) such as “hocus pocus, tontus talontus, vade celeriter jubeo” (with a particular 17th-century conjurer adopting Hocus Pocus as his name) 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.\nThe verb is derived from the noun.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "hocus-pocuses",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "hocus-pocusses",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "hocuses-pocuses",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "hocusses-pocusses",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "hocus-pocusing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "hocus-pocussing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "hocusing-pocusing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "hocussing-pocussing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "hocus-pocused",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "hocus-pocused",
"tags": [
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "hocus-pocussed",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "hocus-pocussed",
"tags": [
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "hocused-pocused",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "hocused-pocused",
"tags": [
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "hocussed-pocussed",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "hocussed-pocussed",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "((hocus-pocus<>,hocus-pocus<++>,hocus<>-pocus<>,hocus<++>-pocus<++>))"
},
"expansion": "hocus-pocus (third-person singular simple present hocus-pocuses or hocus-pocusses or hocuses-pocuses or hocusses-pocusses, present participle hocus-pocusing or hocus-pocussing or hocusing-pocusing or hocussing-pocussing, simple past and past participle hocus-pocused or hocus-pocussed or hocused-pocused or hocussed-pocussed)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"ho‧cus-po‧cus"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English colloquialisms",
"English dated terms",
"English intransitive verbs",
"English terms with quotations",
"English transitive verbs"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1846, Thomas Campbell Foster, “Challenge to Mr. O’Connell to Prove the Condition of His Estate.—Waterford; Its Neglected Advantages and Capabilities.”, in Letters on the Condition of the People of Ireland, London: Chapman and Hall, […], footnote, pages 457–458",
"text": "But it was possible to say something about Cahirciveen—that it has a nunnery, a market-house, a reading-room. and a Fever Hospital, and, being just two miles from the Valentia slate-quarry, that its houses are slated; but it was impossible to say a single word in defence of Derrynane Beg;—so the two, though seventeen miles apart, were “hocussed-pocussed” together, and it all went down as gospel in Conciliation Hall, that because the houses of Cahirciveen were slated from the quarry close by, ergo, my description of the wretched hovels of Derrynane Beg with their rotten potato-stalk thatches, was monstrously incorrect.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1865, W[illiam] C[arew] Hazlitt, “Further Glimpses of Uncle Tom”, in Sophy Laurie: A Novel, volume III, London: John Maxwell and Company, […], page 197",
"text": "She was fair and above board dealing with her, and no hocusing-pocusing, and every farthing paid to the last shilling, though she did remark that sherry might have been three-and-six, and four were ru’nation ’igh.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1871, G. T. Lowth, chapter IX, in The Morrices; or, The Doubtful Marriage, volume III, London: Hurst and Blackett, […], page 227",
"text": "But jest argufy this t’other way, and then see how it’d be; for there ain’t no ladies as go marrying Codlings and Humpys—begging your pardon, Mr. Humpy—and Chequerses—not they; they’d be right down hocussed-pocussed and back-parloured in no time; and so, you see, it ain’t according, and all you said about veal pies and oat-cakes goes for nothing, Mr. Humpy.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1897, Andrew Balfour, “Of the Taking of the Donna Bella”, in By Stroke of Sword: […], London: Methuen and Company, […], page 161",
"text": "He was an admirable mimic, so that he kept us roaring with laughter, as he hocussed-pocussed, and fussed and fumed like the former captain of the Water Sprite.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1903, Leaves of Healing, section “False Representations of the Christ”, page 304, column 2",
"text": "The curse of the Church today is that large portions of the church represent the Christ either as a baby in a mother’s arms, a dead man on a crucifix, or, as in the blasphemous idolatry of the mass, which declares that a bit of bread, stamped by the hand of a priest and hocused-pocused with his Latin, has been transformed into the body, blood and bones of Jesus, the Christ.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1903, Railway Times, page 67, column 1",
"text": "There was no adequate principle at all in beginning with the gross income of a railway company, and when they came to deal with deductions they would be hocussed-pocussed in the Law Courts, and would have an abiding code of procedure which, even if they got a new tribunal, would be difficult to overcome.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1916, The American Photo Engraver, page 131, column 2; 132, column 1",
"text": "The holidays usually serve as a source of happiness to the majority of us; but to George Ross they bring back with great forcefulness the bitter remembrance of the time he was hocused-pocused on Main Street quite some time ago.[…]After ten minutes more of continual hocusing pocusing” it dawned upon George that he was the guy that had been “hocused pocused.”",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1917, Annual Report, Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Baltimore, page 39, column 1",
"text": "Can it be that under this Bill Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County are going to be hocussed-pocussed out of their valuable public properties?",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1948, Music Reporter, page 135, column 4",
"text": "Indeed, when he played the Liszt Variations on Bach’s “Weinen, Klagen, Zagen,” he did it in a way that left one somewhat hocussed-pocussed.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1993, Gerard Flynn, The Bronx Boy: No More Awnings in the Bronx, page 120",
"text": "I am convinced some mauvais génie has done this deliberately, some perverse descendant of the Enlightenment, an impish fool who gets his kicks by hocussing-pocussing religion;",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1996, Alan Isler, chapter 4, in Kraven Images, Random House, published 2011",
"text": "Hocusing-pocusing, / Didi von Hoden, / Wagnerian temptress and Circean witch, / Shimmied and shook herself / While she was wearing, e- / Rotomaniac’lly, / Nary a stitch.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To play tricks or practise sleight of hand (on someone); (by extension) to cheat, to deceive."
],
"links": [
[
"transitive",
"transitive"
],
[
"intransitive",
"intransitive"
],
[
"play",
"play#Verb"
],
[
"tricks",
"trick#Noun"
],
[
"practise",
"practise"
],
[
"sleight of hand",
"sleight of hand"
],
[
"cheat",
"cheat#Verb"
],
[
"deceive",
"deceive"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive, intransitive, colloquial, dated) To play tricks or practise sleight of hand (on someone); (by extension) to cheat, to deceive."
],
"tags": [
"colloquial",
"dated",
"intransitive",
"transitive"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌhəʊkəs ˈpəʊkəs/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌhoʊkəs ˈpoʊkəs/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/-kɪs/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-əʊkəs"
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-hocus-pocus.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/75/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-I_learned_some_phrases-hocus-pocus.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-I_learned_some_phrases-hocus-pocus.wav.mp3",
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"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
],
"text": "Audio (RP)"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Archbishop of Canterbury",
"Jesus",
"John Tillotson",
"Robert Ibbitson"
],
"word": "hocus-pocus"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-24 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (82c8ff9 and f4967a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.