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 1880. Punch, June 5, p. 253. Fred on Pretty Girls and Pictures. Awful fellow that Ted at his letters!--he writes for the Scanmag, you know; And his style never falls below 'PAR.' Not my joke, heard him putting it so. And the pars in the Scanmag--he does them--are proper, and chock full of 'go.' Only paper I care to grind through, never preachy, or gushing, or slow!

Abracadabra, subs. (scientific jargon).1.--A cabalistic word used in incantations. When written in a manner similar to that shown in accompanying diagram, so as to be read in different directions, and worn as an amulet, it was supposed to cure certain ailments.

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

Hence (2), any word-charm, empty jingle of words, gibberish, nonsense, or extravagant idea. Littré's derivation from the Hebrew--ab father, mach spirit, and dabar word--is regarded by many authorities as fanciful; as also is T. A. G. Balfour's reference of it to a composition of the first letters of the Hebrew words signifying 'Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.' Other authorities, though by no means in accord, generally agree that a Persian origin is the most likely. Mr. R. S. Charnock (Notes and Queries, 7 S., iii., 504) thinks it related to the cabalistic word abraxas composed of the Greeek[** Greek ?] letters [GR: a, b, r, a, x, a, s], making, according to the Greek numeration, the number 365.

Des auteurs beaucoup plus anciens n'ont vu dans le mot abraxas, qu'une réunion des lettres numériques, qui étant additionées donnent le nombre 365, ou l'année entière, en sorte qu'[**no space?] abraxas serait le symbole du soleil ou de sa révolution annuelle presumée.--Depping.

In Persian, according to Grotenford, abraxas means the 'Sun God'; if this be so its use as a talisman is easily understood. Yet another derivation is from a corrupt form of the Hebrew--dabar is verb[=u], and abraca is benedixit, i.e., verbum benedixit. If, however, the word is Semetic[** Semitic ?] at all, and nothing more than an unintelligible jargon of letters, it could possibly be better explained than by Littré, by Abra(i) seda bra(i), 'Out, bad spirit, out!' as a magic formula for driving out the demon which causes the fever. It is interesting in this connection to compare Mark i. 25, ix. 25, and parallel passages.

1687. Aubrey's Remaines of Gentilisme, p. 124 (1881). [In this work ABRACADABRA is given arranged as a spell.]

1711. Spectator, No. 221. They [the signatures] are, perhaps, little amulets or charms to preserve the paper against the fascination and malice of evil eyes; for which reason I would not have my reader surprised, if hereafter he sees any of my papers marked with a Q, a Z, a Y, an &c., or with the word ABRACADABRA.

1722. Defoe, Journal of the Plague (ed. Brayley, 1835, p. 56). 'This mysterious word, which, written in the form of a triangle or a pyramid, was regarded as a talisman or charm of wonderful power, is said to have been the name of a Syrian god, whose aid was considered to be invoked by the wearers of the amulet. It originated in the superstitions of a very remote period, and was recommended as an antidote by Serenus Sammonicus, a Roman physician, who lived in the early part of the third century, in the reigns of the emperors Severus and Caracalla. Its efficacy was reputed to be most powerful