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hocus-pocus

 
Dictionary: ho·cus-po·cus   ('kəs-pō'kəs) pronunciation
n.
  1. Nonsense words or phrases used as a formula by quack conjurers.
  2. A trick performed by a magician or juggler; sleight-of-hand.
  3. Foolishness or empty pretense used especially to disguise deception or chicanery.
tr.v., -cused, or -cussed, -cus·ing, or -cus·sing, -cus·es, or -cus·ses.
To play tricks on; deceive.

[Possibly from an alteration of Latin hoc est corpus (meum), this is (my) body (words used in the Eucharist at the time of transubstantiation).]


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Thesaurus: hocus-pocus
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noun

    Esoteric, formulaic, and often incomprehensible speech relating to the occult: abracadabra, gibberish, mumbo jumbo. See clear/unclear, supernatural, words.

Antonyms: hocus-pocus
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n

Definition: deception, magic
Antonyms: reality, truth


Words of pseudomagical import. According to Sharon Turner in The History of the Anglo-Saxons (4 vols., 1799-1805), they were believed to be derived from "Ochus Bochus," a magician and demon of the north. It is more probable, however, that they are a corruption of the Latin hoc est corpus (this is my body), words spoken during the act of transubstantiation in the Roman Catholic Mass. The term has been used since the seventeenth century as a preface to the tricks of conjuring magicians. Conjurers used to introduce tricks with the sham Latin formula, "Hocus pocus, tontus talontus, rade celeriter jubeo."

Wikipedia: Hocus Pocus
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Hocus Pocus primarily means Hocus Pocus (magic), a magic word.

It may also refer to:

Film and television

Music

  • Hocus Pocus (album), a rock album (and the album's title track) by the band Enon
  • Hocus Pocus (song), a 1971 song by Dutch progressive rock band Focus
  • Hocus Pocus (band), a Dutch techno duo best known for their single "Here's Johnny"
  • The Best of Focus: Hocus Pocus, a 1994 album by Dutch progressive rock band Focus

Other


Translations: Hocus-pocus
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - hokuspokus, fup, taskenspilleri
v. tr. - fuppe

Nederlands (Dutch)
hocus-pocus, voor-de-gek- houderij, goochelen, beetnemen, bedwelmen

Français (French)
n. - tour de passe-passe, supercherie, charabia, blabla (de politiciens)
v. tr. - faire des tours de passe-passe

Deutsch (German)
n. - Hokuspokus
v. - Gaukelei treiben, betrügen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - απάτη, ξόρκια
v. - κάνω κόλπα, ξεγελώ

Italiano (Italian)
raggiro, raggirare

Português (Portuguese)
n. - truque (m), fraude (m)
v. - enganar

Русский (Russian)
фокус-покус, очковтирательство

Español (Spanish)
n. - abracadabra, engaño, decepción
v. tr. - mistificar, engañar, decepcionar

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - hokuspokus, bedrägeri, nonsens
v. - göra trollkonster, lura

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
戏法, 变戏法的咒文, 奇术, 变戏法, 耍花招

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 戲法, 變戲法的咒文, 奇術
v. tr. - 變戲法, 耍花招

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 요술, 기술, 속임수
v. tr. - 요술을 부리다, 감쪽같이 속이다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 呪文, 手品, ごまかし, まやかし

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) خفه يد أو براعه في ألعاب الشعوذة أو الخداع, حيله من حيل الشعوذة تتطلب خفه يد, هراء أو تمويه يصطنع لتغطيه الخداع (فعل) يخدع‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮הולכת שולל, אחיזת-עיניים, הוקוס פוקוס, נוסחת-דיבור נפוצה להעלאה באוב‬
v. tr. - ‮ביצע תעלולים‬


Best of the Web: hocus-pocus
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Some good "hocus-pocus" pages on the web:


Phrase
www.phrases.org.uk
 
 
 
Learn More
hanky-panky
hocus
Macklin, Charles (Quotes By)

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Answers Corporation Antonyms. © 1999-2009 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Occultism & Parapsychology Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Copyright © 2001 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hocus Pocus" Read more
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