From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Incantation \In`can*ta"tion\, n. [L. incantatio, fr. incantare
to chant a magic formula over one: cf. F. incantation. See
Enchant.]
[1913 Webster]
1. The act or process of using formulas sung or spoken, with
occult ceremonies, for the purpose of raising spirits,
producing enchantment, or affecting other magical results;
enchantment. "Mysterious ceremony and incantation."
--Burke.
[1913 Webster]
2. A formula of words used as above.
[1913 Webster]
3. The repetitive invoking of old sayings, or emitting a
wordy discourse with little or no meaning, to avoid
serious discussion; obfuscation; as, to defend one's views
with empty incantations.
[PJC]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
incantation
n 1: a ritual recitation of words or sounds believed to have a
magical effect [syn: incantation, conjuration]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008) [foldoc]:
incantation
spell
Any particularly arbitrary or obscure command that one must
mutter at a system to attain a desired result. Not used of
passwords or other explicit security features. Especially
used of tricks that are so poorly documented that they must be
learned from a wizard. "This compiler normally locates
initialised data in the data segment, but if you mutter the
right incantation they will be forced into text space."
From Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) [jargon]:
incantation
n.
Any particularly arbitrary or obscure command that one must mutter at
a system to attain a desired result. Not used of passwords or other
explicit security features. Especially used of tricks that are so
poorly documented that they must be learned from a wizard. "This
compiler normally locates initialized data in the data segment, but if
you mutter the right incantation they will be forced into text
space."