INCANTATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does incantation mean? 

• INCANTATION (noun)
  The noun INCANTATION has 1 sense:

1. a ritual recitation of words or sounds believed to have a magical effect

  Familiarity information: INCANTATION used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INCANTATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A ritual recitation of words or sounds believed to have a magical effect

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

conjuration; incantation

Hypernyms ("incantation" is a kind of...):

charm; magic spell; magical spell; spell (a verbal formula believed to have magical force)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "incantation"):

invocation (an incantation used in conjuring or summoning a devil)

 Context examples 

Hagar, the witch, chanted an awful incantation over her kettleful of simmering toads, with weird effect.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The raising of ghosts or devils was a promise liberally accorded by my favourite authors, the fulfilment of which I most eagerly sought; and if my incantations were always unsuccessful, I attributed the failure rather to my own inexperience and mistake than to a want of skill or fidelity in my instructors.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)