Meanings
- pluralplural onlyMagical formulae, typically consisting of incomprehensible words or syllables, as used in ancient and early-modern amulets and magical texts.
After that follow 5 passages, all introduced by the anaphorical “You are…” (sy ei) and separated from each other by voces magicae.
1982, Jan Bergman, edited by M Heerma van Voss et al., Studies in Egyptian Religion, page 292 more examples
Bonner contends that while the two might have sounded similar, glossolalia was “spontaneous, unmediated utterance”, while the voces magicae consisted of carefully transmitted, stereotypical formulas.
2006, David Edward Aune, Apocalypticism, Prophecy and Magic in Early Christianity, page 412Jewish authors took over the voces magicae in particular, on a large scale, and with them the associated tradition of making geometric shapes out of words to combine the power of texts and mathematics.
2017, Ronald Hutton, The Witch, Yale University Press, published 2018, page 106
Origin
- Latinvōcēs
- Englishvoces magicae
From Latin vōcēs magicae (“magic words”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
voces magicae. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/voces%20magicae
“voces magicae.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/voces%20magicae. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “voces magicae,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/voces%20magicae.
Source: voces magicae on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.