Been seeing alot of the word Abracadabra. Well this is what Abracadabra means: Abracadabra This article is about an incantational word. For other uses, see Abracadabra (disambiguation). is an incantation used as a magic wordin stage magic tricks, and historically was believed to have healing powers when inscribed on anamulet. Etymology The word may have its origin in the Aramaic language, but numerous conflicting folk etymologies are associated with it. The word “Abracadabra” may derive from an Aramaic phrase meaning “I create as I speak.”[1]This etymology is rather dubious, however, as אברא כדברא in Aramaic is more reasonably translated I create like the word. The second lexeme in this supposedly Aramaic phrase must be a noun given the presence of the definite article on the end of the word (it cannot be an infinitive construct, as the infinitive cannot take the definite article). Regardless, this phrase would actually be pronounced ebra kidbara, which is clearly different from abracadabra. However, Semitic languages like Aramiac are not always hard and fast with the assignment of vowels, and abracadabra is similar enough to ebra kidebra, given the tendency of vowels to shift. In the Hebrew language, the phrase translates more accurately as it came to pass as it was spoken. [A]bracadabra may comprise the abbreviated forms of the Hebrew words Ab (Father), Ben (Son) andRuach A Cadsch (Holy Spirit), though an alternative derivation relates the word to Abraxas, a god with snakes for feet who was worshipped in Alexandria in pre-Christian times..[2] David Pickerings description of the word as an abbreviation from Hebrew is also a false etymology—as he apparently here means Aramaic (בר is Aramaic for son, it is בן in Hebrew, although בר is an honorific form), nor does he account for the final five letters (i.e., -dabra) in the lexeme. The word may have originated as a way to remember the alphabet by pronouncing the first letters ABCD... It becomes more pronounceable and easier to remember by adding repetitive vowel a or ra sounds where there are none and adding an alliteration bra at the end. Writing and the alphabet were a form of magic to most people in those times. History The first known mention of the word was in the third century AD in a book called Liber Medicinalis(sometimes known as De Medicina Praecepta Saluberrima) by Quintus Serenus Sammonicus,[3]physician to the Roman emperor Caracalla, who in chapter 51 prescribed that malaria[4] sufferers wear an amulet containing the word written in the form of a triangle:[5] 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 The power of the amulet, he explained, makes lethal diseases go away. Other Roman emperors, including Geta and Alexander Severus, were followers of the medical teachings of Serenus Sammonicus and may have used the incantation as well.[3] 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.[6]It is found on Abraxas stones which were worn as amulets. Subsequently, its use spread beyond the Gnostics. The Puritan minister Increase Mather dismissed the word as bereft of power. Daniel Defoe also wrote dismissively about Londoners who posted the word on their doorways to ward off sickness during theGreat Plague of London.[7] But Aleister Crowleyregarded it as possessing great power; he said its true form is abrahadabra.[8] The word is now commonly used as an incantationby stage magicians. It is also appliedcontemptuously to a conception or hypothesis which purports to be a simple solution of apparently insoluble phenomena.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Apr 2014 17:42:44 +0000