hocus-pocus

See also: hocuspocus and hocus pocus

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Dates from the 17th century when used by jugglers and magicians as a nonsense magical incantation.[1][2] Some believe it is a corruption of words from the Roman Catholic liturgy of the Eucharist, hoc est enim corpus meum, although this is disputed.

Pronunciation

Interjection

hocus-pocus

  1. A phrase used as a magical incantation to bring about some change.

Translations

Noun

hocus-pocus (usually uncountable, plural hocus-pocuses)

  1. (uncountable) Trickery or nonsense.
    What kind of hocus-pocus is this?
  2. (obsolete, countable) A conjurer.
  3. (obsolete, countable) A conjurer's trick.

Translations

Verb

hocus-pocus (third-person singular simple present hocus-pocuses, present participle hocus-pocusing, simple past and past participle hocus-pocused)

  1. (colloquial, transitive) To cheat.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of L'Estrange to this entry?)

References
  1. Compact Oxford English Dictionary. http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/hocuspocus
  2. “Hocus-pocus” in Gary Martin, The Phrase Finder, 1997–, retrieved 26 February 2017.
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