Obs. Usu. in pl. ventriloqui. [L., f. ventri-, venter belly + loqui to speak, after Gr. ἐγγαστρίμῡθος. Cf. VENTRILOQUE.] A ventriloquist (esp. in the original sense).
The fem. ventriloqua (pl. -loquæ) is employed by R. Scot, Discov. Witchcr. (1584), VII. i. 126. and xiii. 150.
1644. Digby, Nat. Bodies, xxviii. § 2. 251. They that are called ventriloqui, do persuade ignorant people that the Diuell speaketh from within the deepe in their belly.
1667. Phil. Trans., II. 603. How by a peculiar use of the Epiglottis, one may come to speak inwardly, as do the Ventriloqui.
1706. Hearne, Collect. (O.H.S.), I. 306. Two or three pretty stories … of Ventriloqui, or those that speak in their bellies.
1748. Hartley, Observ. Man, I. ii. § 5. 228. We may see how Ventriloqui, or Persons that speak in their Throats, without moving their Lips, impose upon the Audience.
1762. Ann. Reg., I. 143/2. The known faculty many people called Ventriloqui have had of uttering strange noises [etc.].
