The first recorded use of the term was in 1499 by Johannes Trithemius in his Steganographia , a treatise on cryptography and steganography, disguised as a book on magic.

It is not surprising that words become spells to help stop the crying, help the child go to sleep, or express encouragement or hope. Transmitted mainly through an oral tradition, lullabies reflect the musical and lyrical cultural approaches to what we call childhood.