Magus

[mey-guh s]

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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

Magi

[mey-jahy]

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 formsMa·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

magus

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

Magus

noun

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

magi

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 Formsmagian (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

Word Origin and History for magus

Magus

member of the ancient Persian priestly caste, late 14c., singular of magi (q.v.).

magi

c.1200, "skilled magicians, astrologers," from Latin magi, plural of magus "magician, learned magician," from Greek magos, a word used for the Persian learned and priestly class as portrayed in the Bible (said by ancient historians to have been originally the name of a Median tribe), from Old Persian magush "magician" (see magic). Related: Magian.

Culture definitions for magus

Magi

[(may-jeye)]

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