ventriloquismn.
/vɛnˈtrɪləkwɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /vɛnˈtrɪləˌkwɪzəm/ 1. in extended use.a1834 S. T. Coleridge Lit. Remains (1836) II. 275 I call it ventriloquism, because Sejanus is a puppet, out of which the poet [sc. Jonson] makes his own voice appear to come.1874 Fortn. Rev. Feb. 244 We consider the poem [‘Maud’] about as striking an instance as could be named of what we call poetical ventriloquism.
a. The art or practice of speaking or producing sounds in such a manner that the voice appears to proceed from some person or object other than the speaker, and usually at some distance from him. (The common use.)
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > legerdemain, etc. > [noun]
colea1307
jugglingc1380
tregetryc1380
jugglerya1400
tregettingc1440
legerdemaina1450
jocularya1500
conveyance1531
prestigiation?c1550
conjuring1577
figgum1631
prestigion1635
sleight of handa1640
hocus-pocus1647
sleight1664
jugglementa1708
thaumaturgy1727
conjurationa1734
ventriloquism1797
magic1831
prestidigitation1841
hocus1854
conjury1855
1797 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 639/2 It is with no great propriety that..their art [is called] ventriloquism, since they appear more frequently to speak.. from the roof or distant corners of the room, than from their own mouths or their own bellies.
1826 W. Scott Jrnl. 12 Jan. (1939) 67 Mathews..confirms my idea of ventriloquism (which is an absurd word), as being merely the art of imitating sounds at a greater or less distance.
1832 D. Brewster Lett. Nat. Magic vii. 167 This uncertainty with respect to the direction of sound is the foundation of the art of ventriloquism.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. xii. 126 Their deceptions are simply vocal, a change of voice, and perhaps a limited profession of ventriloquism.
b. An instance of this; a ventriloquial sound.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > manner of speaking > [noun] > speaking or appearing to speak from the abdomen > sound made by
ventriloquism1839
1839 T. Beale Nat. Hist. Sperm Whale 302 All our talent and ingenuity in these ventriloquisms were thrown away.
1878 T. Hardy Return of Native III. v. vi. 175 Soft, strange ventriloquisms came from holes in the ground, hollow stalks,..and other crannies.
2. The fact or practice of speaking or appearing to speak from the abdomen.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > manner of speaking > [noun] > speaking or appearing to speak from the abdomen
ventriloquy1584
ventriloquism1818
gastriloquism1831
gastriloquy1848
1818 in H. J. Todd Johnson's Dict. Eng. Lang.
1846 R. C. Trench Notes Miracles v. 152 The notion of a ventriloquism such as this, of a spirit having his lodging in the body of a man.
1852 W. J. Conybeare & J. S. Howson Life & Epist. St. Paul I. ix. 322 It was usual for the prophetic spirit to make itself known by an internal muttering or ventriloquism.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1797