Showing results for "Magus"

• singular of Magi.

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• Magus
  Magus

  noun

  one of the Magi.
• magus
  magus

  noun

  a Zoroastrian priest

Magus

American  

[may-guhs] / ˈmeɪ gəs /

noun

• Magi
  plural

1. (sometimes lowercase) one of the Magi.

2. (lowercase) a magician, sorcerer, or astrologer.

3. (sometimes lowercase) a Zoroastrian priest.

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magus ¹ British  

/ ˈmeɪɡəs /

noun

1. a Zoroastrian priest

2. an astrologer, sorcerer, or magician of ancient times

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Magus ² British  

/ ˈmeɪɡəs /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Magi
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of Magus

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

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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

See Examples For:

Magus magus Magi

One day, he brought his most recent finds to Magus and the book buyer declined, explaining that the store was for sale and couldn’t afford to accumulate any more debt.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022

With its high ceilings and pleasantly cramped aisles packed full of quality used books, Magus hums with the certain ineffable quality that all great used-book stores enjoy.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022

The most earnest, enthusiastic conversations about literature in Seattle happen in the aisles of Magus every day.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022

Under the watchful eye of owner David Bell, Magus became the institution that we know today.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022

In the course of his inquiries, Beltrezzor discovered that Simon Magus lived in the city in great grandeur and authority.

From In Both Worlds by William Henry Holcombe

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

Somehow, the younger Fellini strikes me as sadder and wiser than the all-powerful magus he would eventually become.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 17, 2020

A financial magus in Manhattan stipulates in his will that his possessions be sold.

From New York Times ● Sep. 14, 2017

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

Intricate sculptural groups depict the Annunciation, the birth of Jesus, the Adoration of the Magi and the shepherds, Herod’s massacre of the innocents, the flight into Egypt, Jesus preaching at the temple, and more.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 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

I flipped ahead to the Ms. Magi, magpie, manicure...manifest.

From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool

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