Magus
noun
one of the Magi.
Magus
American
[may-guhs]
/ ˈmeɪ gəs /
noun
-
Magi
plural
-
(sometimes lowercase) one of the Magi.
-
(lowercase) a magician, sorcerer, or astrologer.
-
(sometimes lowercase) a Zoroastrian priest.
magus
1
British
/ ˈmeɪɡəs /
noun
-
a Zoroastrian priest
-
an astrologer, sorcerer, or magician of ancient times
Magus
2
British
/ ˈmeɪɡəs /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Magus
1615–25; < Latin < Greek mágos < Old Persian maguŝ; compare Avestan moγu
Explanation
A magus is a follower of Zoroastrianism, an ancient religion. You can also use magus to mean "magician" or "wise man." In ancient Persia, a Zoroastrian priest (or a member of that particular caste) was a magus. The word's meaning grew to include practitioners of astrology and magic, but in English its plural form, magi, is most commonly used for the three wise men, or magi, who are described visiting Jesus in the Bible. Magus means "magician" in Latin, and its roots go back to the Old Persian magush, also "magician."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
While Magus feels like it somehow has a copy of every single book ever published crammed inside its walls, the annex feels breezier, and more primed for discovery.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
On virtually any trip to Magus, browsers are likely to eavesdrop on some of the best conversations in the city.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
Weimer says with some satisfaction that customers frequently walk in to Magus “and they say ‘I went to college here in 1982, and the store still smells the same and looks the same.’
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
Under the watchful eye of owner David Bell, Magus became the institution that we know today.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
But there is another proof of his superiority here, in that God caused Simon Peter to engage Simon Magus.
From St. Peter, His Name and His Office As set forth in holy scripture by Thomas W. Allies
So begins the mythology of Gabriel García Márquez, the magus of magical realism, a Nobel laureate who blended truth and fiction to fit the outsize reality of Latin American life.
From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2023
And a venom peptide from a cone snail, Conus magus, led to Prialt, a chronic pain drug.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 27, 2022
Burgess originally intended to capture Death but when Dream materializes instead, unconscious and helpless, the "magus" decides he'll do just fine.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2022
In 1876, William Ewart Gladstone, the Liberal magus then in semi-retirement, took up the horrors of the Ottomans’ brutal repression of Bulgarian nationalists; four years later, his growing indignation helped bring down the Disraeli government.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 9, 2014
It was a construction she must have once overheard, and she had uttered it in blind faith, like an apprentice mouthing the incantation of a magus.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Intricate sculptural groups depict the Annunciation, the birth of Jesus, the Adoration of the Magi and the shepherds, Herod’s massacre of the innocents, the flight into Egypt, Jesus preaching at the temple, and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Nobody can tell you whether any of them knew a Magi from a Musketeer, not to mention that the Roman Empire they worked under was a failed administration.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2025
The Christian feast day of Epiphany, when observers celebrate the visit to Jesus by the Magi - commonly known as the Three Kings, or Wise Men - is widely celebrated in Spain.
From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2025
In some traditions, it celebrates the baptism of Jesus and in others the visit of the Three Magi to the Baby Jesus.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 6, 2024
I was collecting grass for the camels of the Three Magi, who were coming that night with presents for all the children.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
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