lexicow

incantation

/ˌɪnkænˈteɪʃən//ˌɪnkænˈteɪʃən/·noun
I watch the runes lift one by one off the open book and spiral up into the dark above it. They gather there, turning, the glow thickening with every word read out, until the last one rises and the whole gathered light cracks open into a shape that was not there a moment before — sparks flung off it. Then it gutters, and the marks settle back onto the page. Nothing made it but the saying, in order and out loud.
|

Definition

An incantation is a set of words chanted as a spell — ordered, rhythmic, and repeated until the saying itself seems to invoke a power. Its Latin root means 'to sing', and a good incantation is built to resonate, the cadence and repetition doing as much work as the literal sense. The word also carries a figurative use: phrases recited so often, and with so little thought, that they function like a ritual formula rather than real argument.

Examples

  • The priest's low incantation filled the hall as the candles were lit one by one.
  • Politicians repeat certain phrases like an incantation, hoping the words alone will reassure.
  • In the old story, a single wrong word in the incantation undoes the entire spell.

Collocations

mutter an incantation·a magic incantation·repeat like an incantation·a ritual incantation·chant an incantation

Synonyms

chant·spell·invocation·charm·litany

Word family

incant (verb)·incantatory (adjective)

In TOEFL & IELTS

Appears in reading passages on folklore, religion, and ritual, and figuratively in argument essays for empty, repeated phrasing. Stress falls on '-ta-' (in-can-TA-tion). Keep it apart from 'enchantment' (the state of being charmed) — related root, different word.