Necronomicon

English

Etymology

Pseudo-loan from Ancient Greek as if formed from a compound of νεκρός (nekrós, “dead”) +‎ νόμος (nómos, “law”) +‎ εἰκών (eikṓn, “image”), literally “an image of the law of the dead”. Coined by American writer H. P. Lovecraft.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌnɛkɹəˈnɒmɪkən/, /ˌnɛkɹəˈnɒmɪkɒn/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌnɛkɹəˈnɑmɪkən/, /ˌnɛkɹəˈnɑmɪkɑn/

Proper noun

the Necronomicon

1. A fictional grimoire of arcane and forbidden knowledge whose contents can drive a person mad.

   Synonym: Kitab al-Azif

   • c. 1926, H.P. Lovecraft, The Descendant:

     So matters went till that night when Williams brought home the infamous Necronomicon of the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred ... he had always wondered why men paled when they spoke of it. The old bookseller had told him that only five copies were known to have survived the shocked edicts of the priests and lawgivers against it and that all of these were locked up with frightened care by custodians who had ventured to begin a reading of the hateful black-letter.

   • 2002, Calpernia Sarah Addams, Mark 947: A Life Shaped by God, Gender and Force of Will‎^[1], page 81:

     The container was a set of ceramic rune-stones and their accompanying manual. The book was The Necronomicon.

   • 2004, Stephen Prince, The Horror Film, page 172,^[2]

     Death Scenes is introduced and narrated by the famous occultist and leader of the Church of Satan, Dr. Anton Szandor LaVey, who describes the film in his wandering introduction as "a road map featuring the many avenues by which we encounter death . . . a brutally graphic collection of horrid indiscretions, a true necronomicon." "What mysterious force draws us to such a dark, challenging subject?" inquires LaVey in his sardonic monotone.

See also

• grimoire
• Lovecraftian
• -nomicon