grimoire
nounUK /ˈɡɹɪmwɑː/ · US /ˈɡɹɪmˌwɑːɹ/
Etymology
Borrowed from French grimoire, a variant of grammaire, from Old French gramaire (“grammar; grimoire; conjurer, magician”), from Latin grammatica (“grammar; philology”), from grammaticus (“relating to grammar, grammatical”), from Ancient Greek γρᾰμμᾰτῐκός (grămmătĭkós, “knowing one's letters; concerned with textual criticism”), from γράμμα (grámma, “that which is drawn or written; letter; book, writing”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix added to noun stems to form adjectives). γράμμα is derived from γρᾰ́φω (grắphō, “to cut into, scratch; to draw, paint; to write”, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to carve”)) + -μᾰ (-mă, suffix added to verbal stems forming neuter nouns denoting the result of, a particular instance of, or the object of an action). The English word is a doublet of glamour, glamoury, gramarye, and grammar.
Human sciences, Mysticism, Occult, Philosophy, Sciences A book of instructions in the use of alchemy or magic, especially one containing spells for summoning demons.
- There is something exceedingly unpleasant in being obliged to answer "No," to a traveller's "Pray, Sir, were you ever abroad?" and to sit mum-chance all the time that he is running over the "grimoire" of outlandish technicalities. For my own part, I am convinced that man is, par excellence, a travelling animal; [...]1821, “M.” [pseudonym], “The Traveller”, in The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, volume II (Original Papers), number XII, London: Henry Colburn and Co. […], →OCLC, page 544:
- One day, a curate of the neighbourhood of Bayeux, who kept up a constant intercourse with the devil, left his grimoire thoughtlessly on the table. His domestic, a lad who was very curious, had long sought an opportunity to open the mysterious book. [...] Scarcely had he pronounced a certain word, which presented itself accidentally to his eyes, when the devil suddenly made his appearance in the form of a great black man, with red eyes, and a terrible mouth. [...] The poor man was nearly dead with fright, and promised readily that he would never again read in the grimoire.1835 August, “Contes Populaires, Préjugés, Patois, Proverbes, Noms de Lieux, de l’Arrondisement de Bayeux, recueillis et publiés par Frédéric Pluquet. Deuxième Edition, 8vo. Rouen. Londres, Pickering. [book review]”, in The Gentleman’s Magazine, volume IV (New Series), London: William Pickering; John Bowyer Nichols and Son, →OCLC, page 159, column 2:
4 more examples
- The Kabalah for Paracelsus, when it is not something quite fantastic and unimaginable, is a species of practical magic, and here we shall do well to remember that the adept of Hohenheim flourished at a period when, as we have seen, the spurious literature of clavicles and grimoires was fast multiplying.1902, Arthur Edward Waite, “Book VII: Some Christian Students of the Kabalah”, in The Doctrine and Literature of the Kabalah, London: The Theosophical Publishing Society, →OCLC, page 353:
- There is extant among the old Grimoires a prayer attributed to the St. Cyprian of legend, who is possibly the holy Bishop of Carthage: its obscure and figurative expressions may have given credit to the idea that prior to his conversion he was addicted to the deadly practices of Black Magic.1922, Éliphas Lévi [pseudonym; Alphonse Louis Constant], “Legends”, in Arthur Edward Waite, transl., A History of Magic: Including a Clear and Precise Exposition of Its Procedure, Its Rites and Its Mysteries … Translated, with a Preface and Notes, 2nd edition, London: William Rider & Son, Limited, […], →OCLC, page 203:
- Nevertheless, to generations of writers after Independence, the printed word was a kind of magic, the grimoire that would bring about liberation.1976, Jean Franco, “Preface”, in César Vallejo: The Dialectics of Poetry and Silence, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page viii:
- In this conjuration you are calling the spirit and helping the seer to further attune to the spirit so she can see it through the magic mirror. The name of the spirit you are evoking is left blank. Fill it in from one of the spirits listed later in this book or from one of the grimoires.1994, Donald Michael Kraig, “The Conjuration”, in The Truth about Evocation of Spirits (Llewellyn’s Vanguard Series), St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn Publications, →ISBN, page 36:
- Related terms
- gramarye, bestiary, diabologue, Necronomicon
- Hypernyms
- spellbook