Meanings
- rareuncountableThe ability to speak in two different voices, especially as a ventriloquist.
Though there was certainly an element of entertainment in Raphaelle's performances, ventriloquism, or "biloquism" as the new "science" was called, represented far more than entertainment in early-nineteenth-century America.
1994, D. C. Ward and S. Hart, "Subversion and Illusion in the Life and Art of Raphaelle Peale," American Art, vol. 8, no. 3 and 4, p. 106Synonyms: biloquium
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe ability to speak in two different voices, especially as a ventriloquist.
Origin
Possibly based on similar terms used by American novelist Charles Brockden Brown (1771-1810) in Wieland, or the Transformation: An American Tale (1798) and Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist (1805).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
biloquism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/biloquism
“biloquism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/biloquism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “biloquism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/biloquism.
Source: biloquism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.