Abracadabra
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Abracadabra is a word used as an incantation.
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[edit] 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]
According to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica 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.
The word is now commonly used as an incantation by stage magicians and their imitators.
Abracadabra sounds as Abrahadabra, In Aramaic this word roughly translates into "I will create as I speak."
[edit] See also
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Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Abracadabra. |
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Look up abracadabra in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
