Crossword clues for ventriloquy
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ventriloquy \Ven*tril"o*quy\, n. [Cf. F. ventriloquie.] Same as Ventriloquism.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1580s, from Late Latin ventriloquus, from Latin venter (genitive ventris) "belly" (see ventral) + loqui "speak" (see locution). Related: Ventriloquial; ventriloquize.\n
\nPatterned on Greek engastrimythos, literally "speaking in the belly," which was not originally an entertainer's trick but rather a rumbling sort of internal speech, regarded as a sign of spiritual inspiration or (more usually) demonic possession. Reference to the modern activity so called seems to have begun early 18c., and by 1797 it was being noted that this was a curiously inappropriate word to describe throwing the voice.
Wiktionary
n. (context dated English) ventriloquism.
WordNet
n. the art of projecting your voice so that it seems to come from another source (as from a ventriloquist's dummy) [syn: ventriloquism]
Usage examples of "ventriloquy".
Fitzfarris would present his sideshow and mouse game and ventriloquy during intermissions.
On the occasions when he did bestir himself to speak, he did so almost by ventriloquy, directing his remarks to the Princess of Liechtenstein to be passed along.