Magus
noun
one of the Magi.
Magus
American
[mey-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:
Under the watchful eye of owner David Bell, Magus became the institution that we know today.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
The plan was that Weimer would financially stabilize Magus while McElroy maintained a steady income at her corporate gigs to subsidize the endeavor.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
After spending almost two decades shepherding Magus Books into the 21st century, Weimer and McElroy have undertaken a new project: On Oct.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
Customers looking to sell books can always bring them to the main Magus store on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
Simon Magus, a picture of flaming wrath, leaped into the arena and ran through the walk enclosed by iron railings that led into the prison.
From In Both Worlds by Holcombe, William Henry
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
He treated his employees well, but there was room for only one magus in his court.
From New York Times ● Mar. 7, 2017
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
To figure out what AI-driven search should look like, the company began a multiteam effort called Project Magi, led by Liz Reid, who became Google’s vice president of search in 2024.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 7, 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 6 January 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. 5, 2024
“We are called instead to set out and journey, like the Magi, following the light that always desires to lead us on, at times along unexplored paths and new roads.”
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 21, 2023
There was great excitement in the Ruiz household on January 6, the Day of the Three Kings, when children received gifts as a symbol of those the Magi had brought to the Christ child.
From "Lupita Mañana" by Patricia Beatty
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
