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prestidigitation

/ˌpɹɛstəˌdɪd͡ʒɪˈteɪʃən/noun

prestidigitation is spelled P-R-E-S-T-I-D-I-G-I-T-A-T-I-O-N: 16 letters and 6 syllables. It appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 161,690th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, prestidigitation means “A performance of or skill in performing magic or conjuring tricks with the hands” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of prestidigitation is prestidigitations.

How many letters and syllables are in prestidigitation?

Letters16: P-R-E-S-T-I-D-I-G-I-T-A-T-I-O-N
Syllables6 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 28 million words; the 161,690th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is prestidigitation?

Prestidigitation appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 161,690th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce prestidigitation?

  • UK /ˌpɹɛstɪˌdɪd͡ʒɪˈteɪʃən/
  • US /ˌpɹɛstəˌdɪd͡ʒɪˈteɪʃən/

Prestidigitation has 6 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-prestidigitation.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with prestidigitation?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as prestidigitation from its last stressed vowel (/eɪʃən/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of prestidigitation

  • prestidigitations plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does prestidigitation mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A performance of or skill in performing magic or conjuring tricks with the hands.

    My favorite prestidigitation was when he pulled the live dove out of that tiny scarf.

  2. 2

    A show of skill or deceitful cleverness.

    His writing was peppered with verbal tricks and prestidigitation.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Prestidigitation in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

In the sense sleight of hand:

LanguageWords
Frenchprestidigitation
GermanTaschenspielerkunst, Taschenspielertrick
Portugueseprestidigitação
Spanishprestidigitación

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does prestidigitation come from?

From French prestidigitation, from French preste (“nimble, quick”) + Latin digitus (“finger”) + French -ation (process suffix). The word has a different origin from prestige, even though this in the past has meant “delusion, illusion, trick”.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after prestidigitation