Who knows what abracadabra means?

Answer 1

History:

The word is now commonly used as an incantation by stage magicians. In ancient times, however, it was taken much more seriously as an incantation to be used as a cure for fevers and inflammations. The first known mention was in the 2nd century A.D. in a poem called De Medicina Praecepta by Serenus Sammonicus, physician to the Roman emperor Caracalla, who prescribed that the sufferer from the disease wear an amulet containing the word written in the form of an inverted cone:

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

This, he explained, diminishes the hold of the spirit of the disease over the patient. Other Roman emperors, including Geta and Alexander Severus, were followers of the medical teachings of Serenus Sammonicus and are likely to have used the incantation as well.


ETYMOLOGY:

Theories about the source of the word are:


[edit] "I create as I speak"
A possible source is Aramaic: אברא כדברא avra kedabra which means "I will create as I speak," which is thought to be in reference to God creating the universe (in some belief systems, ex nihilo), by speaking (see also Fiat Lux). An alternative spelling is avra K'Davarah.


[edit] The curse and the pestilence
There is the view that Abracadabra derives from the Hebrew, ha-brachah, meaning "the blessing" (used in this sense as a euphemism for "the curse") and dabra, an Aramaic form of the Hebrew word dever, meaning "pestilence." They point to a similar kabbalistic cure for blindness, in which the name of Shabriri, the demon of blindness, is similarly diminished. Other scholars are skeptical of this origin and claim that the idea of diminishing the power of demons was common throughout the ancient world, and that Abracadabra was simply the name of one such demon.


[edit] Other Hebrew phrases that have been suggested as possible origins
Abracadabra may have been from:
• a corruption of avar k'davar which means roughly "it will be according to what is spoken;"
• abreq ad Habra meaning "hurl your thunderbolt even unto death."


[edit] Disappear like this word
Some have argued that the term may come from the Aramaic אבדא כדברא abhadda kedhabhra, meaning 'disappear like this word'. Rather than being used as a curse, the Aramaic phrase is believed to have been used as a means of treating illness.


[edit] Abraxas
It has also been claimed that the word comes from Abraxas, a Gnostic word for God (the source of 365 emanations, apparently the Greek letters for Abraxas add up to 365 when deciphered according to numerological methods). It has also been claimed to come from Abracalan (or Aracalan) who is said to have been a Syrian god.

Answer 2

There is the view that Abracadabra derives from the Hebrew, ha-brachah, meaning "the blessing" (used in this sense as a euphemism for "the curse") and dabra, an Aramaic form of the Hebrew word dever, meaning "pestilence." They point to a similar kabbalistic cure for blindness, in which the name of Shabriri, the demon of blindness, is similarly diminished. Other scholars are skeptical of this origin and claim that the idea of diminishing the power of demons was common throughout the ancient world, and that Abracadabra was simply the name of one such demon

Answer 3

During the Bubonic Plague (black death) people belived that wearing an ABRACADABRA symbol around their neck would protect them

Answer 4

In ancient time it was used as an incantation to be used as a cure for fevers and inflammations.

Answer 5

It's a magic word! I can't tell you what it means! I'll take it to my grave! I am sorry! It's a secret!
But don't tell out loud very often, you may put a spell on someone!

Answer 6

.It is a secret word to open the door to a cave of the forty thieves

Answer 7

It is the magic word.
Like please is also the magic word.
There is a song playing on the radio right now with that title.
Coincidence hey?

Answer 8

ab·ra·ca·dab·ra (br-k-dbr) KEY

NOUN:

A magical charm or incantation having the power to ward off disease or disaster.
Foolish or unintelligible talk.

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