A word I have coined meaning to intone an incantation, to mutter a spell; the verbal equivalent of a wielding a talisman or touchstone. Incantate carries a somewhat negative or derisive connotation of ineffectiveness, such as when one mouths empty shibboleths. To incantate is to pay lip service to an idea that one does not really believe in, to follow the the letter but not the spirit of the law. It is the gesture that at once observes the outward form and denies the inner meaning.

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