ignis fatuus

American  

[ig-nis fach-oo-uhs] / ˈɪg nɪs ˈfætʃ u əs /

noun

plural

ignes fatui

1. Also called friar's lantern, will-o'-the-wisp.  a flitting phosphorescent light seen at night, chiefly over marshy ground, and believed to be due to spontaneous combustion of gas from decomposed organic matter.

2. something deluding or misleading.

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ignis fatuus British  

/ ˈɪɡnɪs ˈfætjʊəs /

noun

1. another name for will-o'-the-wisp

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Etymology

Origin of ignis fatuus

1555–65; < Medieval Latin: literally, foolish fire

Example Sentences

The vain pomp and pageantries of courts and the splendour of fortune have ever been an ignis fatuus to seduce the people to their ruin.

From Secret History of the Court of England, from the Accession of George the Third to the Death of George the Fourth, Volume I (of 2) Including, Among Other Important Matters, Full Particulars of the Mysterious Death of the Princess Charlotte by Hamilton, Lady Anne

The Friar’s lantern is the ignis fatuus, or will-o’-the-wisp, fabled to lead men into dangerous marshes.

From Minor Poems by Milton by Milton, John

Love is not the offspring of an hour or a day, nor is it the ignis fatuus which plays about the brain, and disturbs the sleep of the youth and the maiden in their teens.

From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Vol. 9 by Various

XII.298.We are concerned not with names but with things, so that Dr. Hort may give his ignis fatuus what appellation he likes, only why he calls it Syrian it is hard to determine.

From A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, Vol. II. by Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose

The ignis fatuus is almost extinct; so much so that Jack-o’-the-Lantern has died out of the village folklore.

From Wild Life in a Southern County by Jefferies, Richard