Forms: 3–7 coniure, 4 conjoure, -jeoure, -geoure, -gere, counjour, 5 conjuere, -jowre, -jore, (-gure), cunjure, 6 counger, -geir, 4– conjure. [ME., a. OF. conjure-r (cunjurer) = Pr. and Sp. conjurar, It. congiurare:—L. conjūrāre to swear together, to band, combine, or make a compact by oath, to conspire, etc., f. con- together + jūrāre to swear, make oath. The stress-mutation in OF. conjure·r, conju·re, gave two corresponding forms co·njure, conju·re in ME., of which the former was by far the more usual, and has come down in senses 5–9; the latter occurs in Gower and prob. in Wyclif; it was commonly used in senses 1–3 before they became obs., and is now used in 4: cf. adjure. (The pronunciation [pron.] now generally suggests association with the art of the modern ‘conjurer’ or professor of legerdemain, and is naturally avoided in referring to actions treated as religious or solemn.) Virtually, therefore, the verb has now split into two; but both of these are still spelt conjure, and in all senses co·njure (cou·njour, counger) occurs in earlier times.]
I. To swear together; to conspire.
† 1. intr. To swear together; to make a privy compact by an oath; to form a conspiracy; to conspire. Obs.
1382. Wyclif, 2 Kings ix. 14. Thanne Hieu … coniured aȝeynst Ioram. Ibid., xii. 20. Forsothe his seruauntis rysen and coniureden bytwene hemseluen [1388 and sworen togidere bitwixe hem silf].
1549. Compl. Scot., xv. 133. Grit men … that coniuris.
1585. James I., Ess. Poesie (Arb.), 52. Though subiects do coniure For to rebell against their Prince and King.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., V. x. 26. When those gainst states and kingdomes do conjure, Who then can thinke their hedlong ruine to recure?
a. 1649. Drumm. of Hawth., Jas. I., Wks. 5. People believe not that any conjure against a prince, till they find the treason to have taken effect.
1656. Blount, Glossogr., Conjure, to swear or conspire together.
† b. To be conjured: to be sworn together in a confederacy or conspiracy. Obs.
1583. T. Stocker, Hist. Ciu. Warres Lowe C., I. 66 b. The Prince of Orange and the rest of the Estates, who were coniured in the lowe Countreys.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 693. Art thou hee Who … Drew after him the third part of Heav’ns Sons Conjur’d against the highest.
1709. Strype, Ann. Ref., I. liii. 576. The Guisian faction that … were conjured together to invade her kingdom.
† 2. trans. To plan by conspiracy; to conspire.
1475. Caxton, Jason, 77 b. And [he] promised so moche good that they conjured the deth of the king appollo.
II. To constrain by oath, to charge or appeal to solemnly. (Conju·re; in 3 formerly co·njure.)
† 3. trans. To constrain (a person to some action) by putting him upon his oath, or by appealing to something sacred; to charge or call upon in the name of some divine or sacred being; to adjure.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 172/2291. And is Abbod cam to him bi-fore is ende-dai And coniurede him þat he scholde after is deþe þere to him comen.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 17828 (Cott.). Baþ þoru þe lagh of moysi And thoru þair godd adonai … þai coniurd þam na soth to hel.
1382. Wyclif, Matt. xxvi. 63. I couniour [1388 coniure] thee by quycke God, that thou seie to us, ȝif thou be Crist.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Prioress’ T., 192.
a. 1400[?]. Chester Pl., II. 64. Alas! death I counger thee The life soune thou take from me.
c. 1450. Merlin, 22. I coniure the in the name of the fader, sone and holy goste that thow haue no power me to be-gyle.
1638. Penit. Conf., xi. (1657), 302. The Priest is then conjur’d to secrecy.
1649. Bp. Hall, Cases Consc., III. i. 224. I conjure thee ô thou creature of Galbanum … by the ☩ living God … that thou be for our defence.
1797. Mrs. Radcliffe, Italian, i. He called loudly and repeatedly, conjuring the unknown person to appear.
4. To entreat (a person) by something for which he has a strong regard; to appeal solemnly or earnestly to; to beseech, implore.
c. 1450. Merlin, 301. I hym coniured for that he loved beste in the worlde that he wolde gon his weye.
1604. Case is Altered, in Thynne’s Animadv. (1865), Introd. 139. Shewing … all her wealth, which she conjured him to keepe secret.
1647. Clarendon, Hist. Reb., IV. (1702), I. 290. He concled with conjuring all his good Subjects … to joyn with him for the recovery of the Peace of That Kingdom.
1799. S. Turner, Anglo-Sax., I. IV. x. 338. He conjured them to act like men.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., xx. The prisoner … conjured Jeanie to tell her the particulars of the conference.
1862. Carlyle, Fredk. Gt. (1865), III. IX. x. 179. A Letter from the Queen, conjuring him to return without delay.
b. To earnestly entreat or beseech (something).
a. 1704. T. Brown, Dk. Ormond’s Recov., Wks. 1730, I. 49. She … Conjures his aid and valour.
1823. Scott, Peveril, xvii. I asked this interview, to conjure that you will break off all intercourse with our family.
III. To invoke by supernatural power, to effect by magic or jugglery. (Co·njure; in 5 conju·re is possible.)
5. To call upon, constrain (a devil or spirit) to appear or do one’s bidding, by the invocation of some sacred name or the use of some ‘spell.’ (Orig. not distinct from 3, but in later times passing into 8.)
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 35/45. Manie deuelene he coniurede þat huy to him wende.
c. 1325. Coer de L., 5491. A maytyr Negromancien That conjuryd, as I you telle, Thorwgh the feendes craft off helle, Twoo stronge feendes off the eyr.
c. 1450. Lonelich, Grail, xvi. 308. Iosephe … An ymage … coniowred there. And the devel there anon forth ryht Owt of the ymage isswed.
c. 1511. 1st Eng. Bk. Amer., Introd. (Arb.), 34/1. He may coniure the deuyll of hell and do hym saye what so euer he wyl axe of hym.
1552. Abp. Hamilton, Catech. (1884), 63. Thai that abuses the name of God to coungeir the devil be inchantmentes.
1590. Shaks., Com. Err., IV. iv. 60.
1601. Holland, Pliny, II. 203. Wise men of Persia called Magi, vsed this herb when they were minded to coniure and raise vp spirits.
1610. G. Fletcher, Christ’s Vict., I. xxiii. The fiend himself they conjure from his den.
a. 1627. Middleton, Mayor Queenb., V. i. O devil! I conjure thee by Amsterdam!
1837. Macdougall, trans. Graah’s Exp. Greenland, 123. Each angekkok has … his own guardian spirit, or familiar, whom he conjures, and consults as his oracle.
b. Const. up, down, out, away. (Cf. 8.)
a. 1625. Fletcher, Elder Bro., V. i. I’ll conjure down the spirit That I have raised in him.
1649. Selden, Laws Eng., II. xiii. (1739), 70. When all these Spirits are conjured down.
1650. T. B., Worcester’s Apoph., 99. As if … all the devils had bin conjur’d up.
6. intr. or absol. in same sense.
Passing from the mediæval sense sanctioned by religion, through that belonging to the belief in magic and witchcraft, to the practice of the modern professional ‘conjurer’ or juggler.
1393. Gower, Conf., III. 67. And therupon he gan conjure, So that … This lady … sigh her thought a dragon tho.
c. 1420. Anturs of Arth., xi. Thenne coniurt the knyȝt, and on Cryst callus.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 38. Who so euer … coniureth by his blessed passyon.
c. 1590. Greene, Fr. Bacon, ii. 151. If Master Burden could conjure as well as you he would have his book every night from Henley to study on at Oxford.
1601. Shaks., Jul. C., I. ii. 146. Coniure with ’em [the names]. Brutus will start a Spirit as soone as Cæsar.
1681. Dryden, Sp. Fryar, II. iii. No sooner conjure but the Devil’s in the Circle.
1748. F. Smith, Voy. Discov. N. W. Passage, I. 199. The Men colour their Faces with Black Lead … when they go to conjure.
† 7. trans. To affect by invocation or incantation; to charm, bewitch. (By the Protestant Reformers applied opprobriously to consecration.)
(With the same transition of sense as 6.)
a. 1535. Tindale, Wks., 156 (R.). In coniuring of holy water they pray, that whosoeuer be sprinckled therewith may receave health as well of body as of soule.
1575. G. Harvey, Letter-bk. (Camden), 93. I began wonderfull straungelye to quiver and tremble and faynte … as if verilye I had bene coniurid or inchauntid therewith all.
1604. Shaks., Oth., I. iii. 105. I therefore vouch againe, That with … some Dram, (coniur’d to this effect) He wrought vp on her.
1834. W. Godwin, Lives of Necromancers, 346. The doctor [Faustus] at once conjured him, so that he could neither speak nor move.
8. To affect, effect, produce, bring out, convey away, by the arts of the conjurer or juggler.
a. 1535. Tindale, Wks., 15 (R.). Thou canst proue nothing: thou canst neuer coniure out confession thence.
a. 1583. Grindal, Rem. (1843), 57. Christ took bread and left it bread: the priest taketh bread and conjureth it away.
1701. J. Law, Counc. Trade (1751), 120. By the inchantment of monopolies and exclusions … to conjure away the greatest and best part of the trade.
1748. F. Smith, Voy. Discov. N. W. Passage, I. 236. One … telling the Governour of the Factory that he could conjure as good Brasil Tobacco as the Governour sold.
1784. Cowper, Task, I. 571. Great skill have they … To conjure clean away the gold they touch.
1832. Ht. Martineau, Ireland, iv. 67. Persuading the foreigners … that their vessel had been conjured away bodily to a distant point.
9. fig. (Forms of speech originating in earlier notions of conjuring.)
a. To influence as by magic or occult power to do something; to bring about as by magic or supernatural influence.
1601. Cornwallyes, Ess., II. xxx. (1631), 47. Nor deserves it marvell, though it conjure hearts to bee the meanes of their owne overthrow.
a. 1635. Naunton, Fragm. Reg. (Arb.), 53. My Lords friendship with Mountjoy, which the Queen her self did then conjure.
1672. Marvell, Reh. Transp., I. 5. Could the Press be conjured to obey only an Imprimatur.
b. To bring, get, move, convey, as by magic.
1591. Spenser, M. Hubberd, 510. So maist thou chaunce mock out a Benefice, Vnlesse thou canst one coniure by deuice.
1728. Young, Love Fame, ii. (1757), 99. Florello, thou my monitor shalt be; I’ll conjure thus some profit out of thee.
1775. Sheridan, Rivals, I. ii. What has conjured you to Bath?
1820. Procter (B. Cornwall), Marcian Colonna, II. iv. Art thou indeed no phantom which my brain Has conjured out of grief and desperate pain?
1862. Sir B. Brodie, Psychol. Inq., II. iii. 97. These phantoms could be made to disappear by an act of the will, and might be conjured into existence in the same manner.
c. To conjure up: to raise or bring into existence as by magic, occult influence, the art or tricks of the conjuror; to cause to appear to the fancy.
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., III. ii. 158. A manly enterprize, To coniure teares vp in a poore maids eyes.
1759. Franklin, Ess., Wks. 1840, III. 369. A remonstrance was conjured up, from sundry inhabitants.
1784. Cowper, Task, I. 151. My raptures are not conjur’d up To serve occasions of poetic pomp.
1820. W. Irving, Sketch-bk., I. 12. My imagination would conjure up all I had heard or read of the watery world.
1877. Mrs. Oliphant, Makers Flor., i. 12. The very sight of the narrow old streets conjures up the scene.
d. To exorcise, allay, quiet.
1862. Merivale, Rom. Emp. (1865), V. xlii. 162. The mutinous spirit of the army had been conjured by the intrigues of a woman.
