Hermes Trismegistus

American  

noun

1. a name variously ascribed by Neoplatonists and others to an Egyptian priest or to the Egyptian god Thoth, to some extent identified with the Grecian Hermes: various mystical, religious, philosophical, astrological, and alchemical writings were ascribed to him.

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Hermes Trismegistus British  

/ ˌtrɪsməˈdʒɪstəs /

noun

1. a Greek name for the Egyptian god Thoth, credited with various works on mysticism and magic

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Etymology

Origin of Hermes Trismegistus

< Medieval Latin < Greek Hermês Trismégistos Hermes thrice greatest

Example Sentences

He quoted Hermes Trismegistus, the mythical author of a corpus of second- and third-century Alexandrian mystical texts: “As above, so below.”

From Slate • Aug. 1, 2016

They are drawn from the ancient works of Hermes Trismegistus, whose writings became popular during the Renaissance and Reformation.

From BBC • Jul. 31, 2015

Disturbingly before their marriage he also met Karen, a heaven-wrought sheath Of ice and intellect and indifference, whose favorite reading in a hot New England summer is Hermes Trismegistus and Apollonius Rhodius.

From Time Magazine Archive

When family straits got too much for him Alcott retired to his room, plunged into the Rig-Veda or the Confucian Analects or Hermes Trismegistus.

From Time Magazine Archive

Mention is made in many alchemical writings of a mythical personage named Hermes Trismegistus, who is said to have lived a little later than the time of Moses.

From The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry by Muir, M. M. Pattison