hocus-pocus

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   deceptive, meaningless, or unnecessarily obscure talk or activity used to confuse or impress people

   The committee dismissed the supposed proof as mathematical hocus-pocus.

2. 2
   intj

   a mock magical formula uttered by a conjurer when performing a trick

   "Hocus-pocus!" cried the magician as the card vanished.

Simplified etymology

Hocus-pocus appeared in the early 17th century as a formula used by conjurors. It was based on the pseudo-Latin magical phrase hax pax max Deus adimax.

From pseudo-Latin formulas used by seventeenth-century conjurers, including performers known as Hocus Pocus. A proposed derivation from the Eucharistic Latin hoc est enim corpus meum ("for this is my body") is old but disputed. The noun transferred a magician's formula to deceptive or meaningless procedure.

Topics

External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary