abracadabra

1. A magical charm or incantation having the power to ward off disease or disaster.
2. Foolish or unintelligible talk.

[Late Latin, magical formula.]

WORD HISTORY   "Abracadabra," says the magician, unaware that at one time the thing to do with the word was wear it, not say it. Abracadabra was a magic word, the letters of which were arranged in an inverted pyramid and worn as an amulet around the neck to protect the wearer against disease or trouble. One fewer letter appeared in each line of the pyramid, until only a remained to form the vertex of the triangle. As the letters disappeared, so supposedly did the disease or trouble. While magicians still use abracadabra in their performances, the word itself has acquired another sense, "foolish or unintelligible talk."

noun

1. Unintelligible or nonsensical talk or language: double talk, gibberish, gobbledygook, jabberwocky, mumbo jumbo. See clear/unclear, words.
2. Esoteric, formulaic, and often incomprehensible speech relating to the occult: gibberish, hocus-pocus, mumbo jumbo. See clear/unclear, supernatural, words.

A magical word said to be formed from the letters of the abraxas, written thus:
A
AB
ABR
ABRA
ABRAC
ABRACA
ABRACAD
ABRACADA
ABRACADAB
ABRACADABR
ABRACADABRA
or the reverse way. The pronunciation of this word, according to Julius Africanus, was equally efficacious either way. According to Serenus Sammonicus, it was used as a spell to cure asthma. Abracalan, or aracalan, another form of the word, is said to have been regarded as the name of a god in Syria and as a magical symbol by the Jews. It seems doubtful whether the abracadabra, or its synonyms, was really the name of a deity.

Sources:

Lévi, Éliphas. Transcendental Magic. London: Rider, 1896. Reprint, New York: Samuel Weiser, 1970.

v.t.

To shorten.

        When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for 
    people to abridge their king, a decent respect for the opinions of 
    mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel 
    them to the separation.
                                                       Oliver Cromwell

This article is about an incantational word. For other uses, see Abracadabra (disambiguation).

Abracadabra is a word used as an incantation.

Contents 1 History 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

History

The first known mention of the word ABRACADABRA was in the 2nd century AD in a poem called De Medicina Praecepta by Serenus Sammonicus, physician to the Roman emperor Caracalla, who prescribed that the sufferer from the disease wear an amulet containing the word written in the form of a triangle:[1]

A - B - R - A - C - A - D - A - B - R - A
A - B - R - A - C - A - D - A - B - R
A - B - R - A - C - A - D - A - B
A - B - R - A - C - A - D - A
A - B - R - A - C - A - D
A - B - R - A - C - A
A - B - R - A - C
A - B - R - A
A - B - R
A - B
A

This, he explained, diminishes the hold over the patient of the spirit of the disease. Other Roman emperors, including Geta and Alexander Severus, were followers of the medical teachings of Serenus Sammonicus and are likely to have used the incantation as well.

It was assumed by some that the term might be of Semitic origin.^[1]

The late Amram Kehati in his recently posted article on the net [2][3]claims that the source is Hebrew and the ABRACADABRA has to be read from right to left as in Hebrew. ABRACADABRA, when phonetically pronounced from right to left, reads in Hebrew ארבע-דאח-ארבע. The Hebrew word דאח is the word אחד with rearrangement of the letters. This was done to confuse the daemon or for various witchery reasons. The evil, dark forces and the daemons kingdom in the Jewish Kabbalah are represented by the number 9 (the Hebrew word תשעה) or the Hebrew letter ("טית "ט). Since the ABRACADABRA word has to diminish a letter a day for nine (9) days it has to have enough letters. The Hebrew word תשעה is too short because it has only four letters. Therefore, the Hebrew word ארבע-אחד-ארבע was created. The Hebrew word ארבע is the Hebrew word for the number 4 (four) and the Hebrew word אחד is the Hebrew word for the number 1 (one). Therefore, ארבע+אחד+ארבע equal 4+1+4=9 and it represents the dark forces and daemons kingdom. This explanation for ABRACADABRA succeeds where all other previous known explanations and sources did not explain why the patient has to wear the amulet for nine (9) days. In Hebrew the "ABRACADABRA" should read as "ארבעאחדארבע" and the amulet should be as follows:

א-ר-ב-ע-א-ח-ד-א-ר-ב-ע
ר-ב-ע-א-ח-ד-א-ר-ב-ע
ב-ע-א-ח-ד-א-ר-ב-ע
ע-א-ח-ד-א-ר-ב-ע
א-ח-ד-א-ר-ב-ע
ח-ד-א-ר-ב-ע
ד-א-ר-ב-ע
א-ר-ב-ע
ר-ב-ע
ב-ע
ע

According to the 1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica it was used as a magical formula by the Gnostics of the sect of Basilides in invoking the aid of beneficent spirits against disease and misfortune. It is found on Abraxas stones which were worn as amulets. Subsequently its use spread beyond the Gnostics, and in modern times it is applied contemptuously (e.g. by the early opponents of the evolution theory) to a conception or hypothesis which purports to be a simple solution of apparently insoluble phenomena.

Ephraim Goodman, the world reknown linguist, figures that the term comes from an Aramaic phrase reading: Avra "I shall create", Kedavra "As that which I say.

The word is now commonly used as an incantation by stage magicians and their imitators.

See also

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Abracadabra.

• Abrahadabra
• Barbarous names
• Hocus Pocus
• Presto

References

1. ^ Michael Quinion, World Wide Words

External links

• Abracadabra Robert Todd Carroll, Skeptic's Dictionary
• The late Amram Kehati article on the origin of Abracadabra (Hebrew Version)
• The late Amram Kehati article on the origin of Abracadabra (English Version)
• The late Amram Kehati article on the origin of Abracadabra (Hebrew Version)
• The late Amram Kehati article on the origin of Abracadabra (English Version)

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
int. - hokuspokus, hokuspokus-filliokus, abracadabra
n. - trolddom, trylleri, magi

Nederlands (Dutch)
abracadabra, wartaal, jargon

Français (French)
int. - abracadabra (excl)
n. - abracadabra

Deutsch (German)
int. - Abrakadabra, Hokuspokus
n. - Abrakadabra, Kauderwelsch, Hokuspokus

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - μαγικό ξόρκι, (μτφ.) ακαταλαβίστικα

Italiano (Italian)
abracadabra

Português (Portuguese)
n. - abracadabra (m)

Русский (Russian)
бессмыслица

Español (Spanish)
int. - abracadabra
n. - abracadabra, jerigonza

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - hokuspokus

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
变!, 驱病符, 胡言乱语, 咒语

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
int. - 變!
n. - 驅病符, 胡言亂語, 咒語

한국어 (Korean)
int. - 애브러커대브러(글자를 삼각형으로 쓴 주문)
n. - (옛날, 병을 막기 위해 부적으로 썼던) 주문, 헛소리

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - アブラカダブラ, 呪文

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) تعويذه, كلام غير مفهوم‏

עברית (Hebrew)
int. - ‮אבראקאדברא - מילה הנאמרת ע"י מכשפים ובעלי-אוב‬
n. - ‮לחש-קסם, הבלים‬

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