conjure

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English conjuren,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French conjurer (“to invoke, conjure, adjure”),^[5][2][6] and also directly borrowed from Latin coniūrō (“to swear together, conspire”),^[5][4] which in Late Latin also meant to adjure, entreat or exorcise,^[4][2] and in medieval Latin to invoke.^[7][8] The Latin verb is formed from com- (“with, together”) and iūrō (“to swear”),^[5][2][6] from iūs (“law, oath”),^[5][9][10] from Proto-Indo-European *yewes-.^[2] The French verb is matched by conjurar, conjurar and congiurare.^[6] The Anglo-Norman verb, recorded from the early 12th century, already meant to adjure, to entreat, to summon the devil and to enchant.^[11] It is related to jury, jurist and conjuration.^[3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To constrain a person to do something by putting him on oath or by appealing to something sacred: about 1290, in the South English Legendary.^[6][4] The same text has the magical sense of calling up a devil or spirit by a sacred name or spell.^[6] Etymonline dates "command on oath" to the late 13th century and "summon by a sacred name" to about 1300.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The magical sense grew out of the idea of binding a demon by a spell to do one's bidding,^[5][12] which in turn gave the sense of making something appear as if by magic.^[13] Conjure up, to call up in the mind, is recorded from the 1580s;^[5] Barnhart finds it in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1590).^[4] The Latin sense of conspiring was used in English from 1382, in the Wycliffite Bible, until 1656;^[6] Trench notes that Foxe already used it, so it was not one of Milton's Latinisms.^[14] The sense of appealing earnestly to someone, to beseech, is recorded from before 1500.^[6] The phrase a name to conjure with, a name of importance, comes from the idea of summoning a powerful person's spirit by speaking the name.^[13][6] In the southern United States a noun conjure named an African American spiritual practice with magical elements (1873), as in conjure man and conjure woman (1850).^[6][8] In Suffolk dialect the verb also meant to clutch or hold.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1290 – to charge someone on oath; to call up a spirit by a spell.^[6][4]
• 1382 – to swear together, conspire (obsolete by 1656).^[6]
• 1393 – intransitive, to practise conjuring.^[6]
• before 1500 – to beseech, implore.^[6]
• 1590 – conjure up, to call up in the mind.^[4][5]
• 1850 – conjure man, conjure woman (US).^[6]
• 1873 – noun, an African American magical practice (US).^[6][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make something appear as if by magic; to produce or create quickly: He conjured a meal out of leftovers.^[16][17][6]
2. conjure up: to call up an image or memory in the mind: The smell of pine conjures up childhood holidays.^[16][17][5]
3. To call up a spirit or devil by a spell or incantation.^[16][17][6]
4. To perform tricks of sleight of hand; to practise conjuring.^[16][17]
5. To entreat someone earnestly or solemnly; to implore: I conjure you to tell the truth.^[16][17][6]
6. a name to conjure with: the name of an important or influential person.^[16][6]
7. (obsolete, 1382–1656) To swear together; to conspire.^[6][14]

Noun

1. (US) Magic, especially an African American folk practice of magic.^[6][8]

Word family

• unconjured
• conjurer
• conjuror

Related words

• conjuration
• jury
• jurist
• adjure
• abjure
• perjury

Usage notes

In the sense "to entreat solemnly" the verb was traditionally stressed on the second syllable, while the magical senses stress the first.^[16][17][8] Weekley notes that Middle English usually stressed the first syllable in all senses.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ a b Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
15. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
16. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
17. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster