incantation

American  

[in-kan-tey-shuhn] / ˌɪn kænˈteɪ ʃən /

noun

incantations plural

1. the chanting or uttering of words purporting to have magical power.

2. the formula employed; a spell or charm.

3. magical ceremonies.

4. magic; sorcery.

   Synonyms:

   wizardry, black magic, witchcraft

5. repetitious wordiness used to conceal a lack of content; obfuscation.

   Her prose too often resorts to incantation.

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incantation British  

/ ˌɪnkænˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. ritual recitation of magic words or sounds

2. the formulaic words or sounds used; a magic spell

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• incantator
  noun
• incantational
  adjective
• incantatory
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• incantations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of incantation

1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin incantātiōn- (stem of incantātiō ), equivalent to incantāt ( us ) past participle of incantāre to put a spell on, bewitch ( see enchant, -ate ¹) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

"Double, double toil and trouble / Fire burn, and cauldron bubble." These lines, cackled by the Weird Sisters in Shakespeare's Macbeth, are part of the most famous incantation — or magic spell made of words — in English literature. Incantation shares a Latin source with enchant, both of which are related to chant. An incantation, then, summons a thing or action into being with words that are sung, spoken, or written. Long before it became the catchword of stage magicians, abracadabra was regarded as a powerful incantation capable of warding off serious disease. The phrase hocus pocus may be a corruption of a 17th-century incantation spoken during the Roman Catholic liturgy of the Eucharist, "hoc est corpus meum" ("this is my body").

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

incantation incantations

Moved by the spectacle, Albarn asks the band to repeat the song's final chorus, whispering the lyrics like an incantation.

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026

“Monument Eternal” is a talisman, an incantation that shows the author fearless and confident in her challenge to the distorting influence of race in America that James Weldon Johnson identified.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

The culprit for the incantation was the image of the now emblematic Pale Man from “Pan’s Labyrinth,” flaunting eyes on his palms on the back cover of the DVD.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2025

Now, it sounds more like a utopian incantation: read it aloud three times on a hill under moonlight and perhaps it will come true.

From Salon ● Mar. 14, 2025

She stared into her gray eyes and tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear, summoning the words of her oath as if they were an incantation.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

This ritual lasted an entire night and involved burning small figures made of wax and clay while an exorcist recited specific incantations.

From Science Daily ● May 5, 2026

Justin, the believer, is instantly alarmed by how these eerie tapes escalate from cute banter to ghostly crying babies and backward incantations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026

The combination of the Welshman’s grim poetics and the singer’s apocalyptic incantations gets the set off to a powerful start and signals something entirely new for the Charli XCX oeuvre.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026

And, in a concession to modernity, as well as holding up feathers in a blessing for the King, the elder was reading his incantations from an iPhone.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2025

“If we’re staying, we should put some protective enchantments around the place,” she replied, and raising her wand, she began to walk in a wide circle around Harry and Ron, murmuring incantations as she went.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

Related Words

• enchantment
• hymn