Magus

[ mey-guh s ]

/ ˈmeɪ gəs /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR Magus ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural Ma·gi [mey-jahy] /ˈmeɪ dʒaɪ/.

(sometimes lowercase) one of the Magi.

(lowercase) a magician, sorcerer, or astrologer.

(sometimes lowercase) a Zoroastrian priest.Compare Magi(def 2).

RELATED WORDS

wizard, sage, seer, magician, magi

Origin of Magus

1615–25; < Latin < Greek mágos < Old Persian maguŝ; compare Avestan moγu

Definition for magus (2 of 2)

Magi

[ mey-jahy ]

/ ˈmeɪ dʒaɪ /

plural noun, singular Ma·gus [mey-guh s] /ˈmeɪ gəs/

(sometimes lowercase) the wise men, generally assumed to be three in number, who paid homage to the infant Jesus. Matt. 2:1–12.Compare Balthazar(def 1), Caspar(def 1), Melchior(def 1).

(sometimes lowercase) the class of Zoroastrian priests in ancient Media and Persia, reputed to possess supernatural powers.

(lowercase) astrologers.

Origin of Magi

see origin at Magus

Related forms

Ma·gi·an

[mey-jee-uh n] /ˈmeɪ dʒi ən/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for magus

Eventually, the Avengers team up with Thanos to do battle with the Magus.
Inside Marvel’s Phase 3: How ‘The Avengers’ Cross Paths with Black Panther and the New Superheroes|Marlow Stern|October 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Although Fowles had already drafted his more famous novel The Magus, he delayed its publication until he finished The Collector.
How to Understand the Criminal Mind By Reading This Novel|Casey N. Cep|December 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Magus was out, and Pierre could obtain no information on this phenomenon.
Pierre Grassou|Honore de Balzac
It was Simon's proficiency in this occult science which gained him the surname of Magus, or Magician.
Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions|T. W. Doane

A Magus, then, is one who is a minister of the Gods, or one who has by nature the god-like faculty.
Apollonius of Tyana, the Philosopher-Reformer of the First Century A.D.|George Robert Stowe Mead
Magus faced about with a shrug, as much as to say there was indeed nothing else to be done.
Quintus Claudius, Volume 1 of 2|Ernst Eckstein
The rods seem to have been of tamarisk, and without a magus no kind of sacrifices were performed.
Fishes, Flowers, and Fire as Elements and Deities in the Phallic Faiths and Worship of the Ancient Religions of Greece, Babylon,|Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for magus (1 of 3)

magus

/ (ˈmeɪɡəs) /

noun plural magi (ˈmeɪdʒaɪ)

a Zoroastrian priest

an astrologer, sorcerer, or magician of ancient times

Word Origin for magus

C14: from Latin, from Greek magos, from Old Persian magus magician

British Dictionary definitions for magus (2 of 3)

Magus

/ (ˈmeɪɡəs) /

noun

Simon Magus New Testament a sorcerer who tried to buy spiritual powers from the apostles (Acts 8:9-24)

British Dictionary definitions for magus (3 of 3)

magi

/ (ˈmeɪdʒaɪ) /

pl n singular magus (ˈmeɪɡəs)

the Zoroastrian priests of the ancient Medes and Persians

the three magi the wise men from the East who came to do homage to the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:1–12) and traditionally called Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar

Derived Forms

magian (ˈmeɪdʒɪən), adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Culture definitions for magus

Magi

[ (may-jeye) ]

The sages who visited Jesus soon after his birth. (See Wise Men.)