Ventriloquism was a word originally associated with possession by an evil spirit.

The word comes from the Latin ventriloquus, which is a compound of venter ‘stomach’ and loqui, ‘speak’.

It originally referred literally to the phenomenon of speaking from the stomach, particularly as a sign of demonic possession.

The word was linked to the trick of throwing one’s voice at the end of the 18th century and has now lost its former meaning.