Make Your Point > Archived Issues > THAUMATURGY
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THAUMATURGY:
Say it "THAW muh tur jee."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
Let's work some magic: some thaumaturgy! Which literally means "the working of magic."
When you look at the "-urgy" in thaumaturgy, you'll recognize its similarity to other words that trace back to the Greek ergon, meaning "work," like liturgy, metallurgy, synergy, and ergonomics.
But that first bit, "thauma-," is a little less recognizable. If you squint your eyes at it, you can kind of see how thaumaturgy is a distant cousin of the word theater, which makes sense when you think of how they both involve spectacles, or sights to behold. Thauma is Greek for "wonder or astonishment," and we see it in only a handful of English words besides thaumaturgy. There's thaumatology: writings about miracles. And thaumatography: writings about the wonders of nature. And then there's thaumatogeny, the belief that life began as a miraculous process--as opposed to nomogeny, the belief that life began as a natural process.
Now that we've met thaumaturgy's wacky little family of words, we're getting a clear picture of what thaumaturgy is, right? It's the working of miracles, the wondrous performance of magic, the showy spectacle of turning water into wine or conjuring an intricate ice castle from scratch or making a yacht disappear.
Let's add this showy, stagy, cape-swishing, wand-waving, spell-casting word thaumaturgy to our list of other types of magic:
1. Al____y is a process that seems magical, mysterious, and scientific, in a way that reminds you of turning things into gold or drinking a potion for immortality.
2. French for "light of hand," le______ain is the use of magic tricks performed with your hands, or more generally, any kind of skillful trickery.
3. From Greek roots meaning "dead body" and "divination," ne______cy is the art of speaking with the dead, or more generally, anything that seems like dark magic or witchcraft.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
We've used some form of the word "thaumaturgy" in English since the late 1600s. It has Greek bits that mean "the working of wonders."
Thaumaturgy is magic. It's the act of performing miracles or wonders.
And figuratively, thaumaturgy is anything that seems like magic: anything that seems magical or miraculous, like something a wizard or a magician would do.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Noun, the uncountable kind: "He performs acts of thaumaturgy;" "My character is learning thaumaturgy."
Other forms:
For an adjective, you can use "thaumaturgic" or "thaumaturgical."
People who work magic are "thaumaturges," "thaumaturgists," or "thaumaturguses."
An alternate noun to "thaumaturgy" is "thaumaturgics," which lets you talk about magical acts in the plural: "She takes the stage, promising thirty minutes of thrilling thaumaturgics."
how to use it:
The word "thaumaturgy" is rare, mystical-sounding, and often positive in tone, suggesting the good, harmless, stagy kind of white magic (as opposed to the evil stuff).
You might use it literally if you're a gamer or a creative writer.
And you might use it figuratively. "Each contestant opens their basket of random ingredients, then, in an act of harried thaumaturgy, transforms them into a gourmet meal."
examples:
"After his missing pal found the Necronomicon, a forbidden book of spells and thaumaturgy, he was led to a tunnel underneath the surface of the Earth, below which terrifying beings are said to dwell."
— Emma Stefansky, Polygon, 23 August 2019
"What she was not prepared for was the insidious decay which had set in among the blooms, and which robbed them entirely of their natural colour and fragrance... It had been Mary's first encounter with the baffling thaumaturgy of chemistry; and to the end of her days her confidence in it was never wholly restored."
— Wilmarth Lewis, Tutors' Lane, 1922
has this page helped you understand "thaumaturgy"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "thaumaturgy" without saying "wizardry" or "sorcery."
try it out:
Thaumaturgy is, by definition, supernatural and not natural. But when I watch autumn leaves float to the ground, I agree with the writer for The Edinburgh Review who referred to Nature as "the great thaumaturge."
How about you? Is there a natural spectacle you've beheld that would make you agree that Nature is "the great thaumaturge"?
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game this month is "Codenames MYP." You can play it with a partner or by yourself. It's loosely based on the fantastic game Codenames Duet.
Check out the words in the grid. Ignore the colors; they're just the ones I had on hand.
If you’re playing with a partner, pick any 2 or 3 terms from the grid, and give your partner a one-word clue to help them guess your terms--without stumbling onto any that you didn't pick. Your partner can do the same for you. No hints! Just say your clue word and the number of terms it should point toward.
If you're playing solo, try to guess 2 terms in the grid by using this clue: "interpretation." To see these answers, scroll all the way down.
If you need any definitions, give these a click:
patina, railroad, rivulet,
buttress, Rorschach test, remora,
caricature, deadwood, keystone.
review this word:
A. FACTUAL.
B. NATURAL.
C. SURGICAL.
2.
When you need some thaumaturgy, stat, call Jonathan Austin, owner and operator of 24-Hour Emergency _____.
A. Heating and Air
B. Veterinary Services
C. Juggling and Magic Services
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
On vocabulary...
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.
From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Let's work some magic: some thaumaturgy! Which literally means "the working of magic."
We've used some form of the word "thaumaturgy" in English since the late 1600s. It has Greek bits that mean "the working of wonders."
Part of speech:
The word "thaumaturgy" is rare, mystical-sounding, and often positive in tone, suggesting the good, harmless, stagy kind of white magic (as opposed to the evil stuff).
"After his missing pal found the Necronomicon, a forbidden book of spells and thaumaturgy, he was led to a tunnel underneath the surface of the Earth, below which terrifying beings are said to dwell."
Explain the meaning of "thaumaturgy" without saying "wizardry" or "sorcery."
Thaumaturgy is, by definition, supernatural and not natural. But when I watch autumn leaves float to the ground, I agree with the writer for The Edinburgh Review who referred to Nature as "the great thaumaturge."
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. |
