| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| hocus-pocus |
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| SYLLABICATION: | ho·cus-po·cus |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  h  k s-p ks |
| NOUN: | 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. | | TRANSITIVE VERB: | Inflected forms: ho·cus-po·cused or ho·cus-po·cussed, ho·cus-po·cus·ing or ho·cus-po·cus·sing, ho·cus-po·cus·es or ho·cus-po·cus·ses
To play tricks on; deceive. | | ETYMOLOGY: | 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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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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