Magi
plural noun
null the Magi, in the Bible, the astrologers who paid homage to the young child Jesus, traditionally assumed to be three in number and to be named Balthazar, Caspar, and Melchior.
Magi
American
[mey-jahy, maj-ahy]
/ ˈmeɪ dʒaɪ, ˈmædʒ aɪ /
Or
magi
plural noun
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Magus
singular
-
null the Magi, in the Bible, the astrologers who paid homage to the young child Jesus, traditionally assumed to be three in number and to be named Balthazar, Caspar, and Melchior.
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the class of Zoroastrian priests in ancient Media and Persia, reputed to possess supernatural powers.
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magi, people who are believed to have expertise in interpreting the assumed influence of the stars, moon, and planets on human affairs; astrologers.
magi
British
/ ˈmeɪdʒaɪ /
plural noun
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the Zoroastrian priests of the ancient Medes and Persians
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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
Magi
Cultural
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Magi
First recorded in 1175–1225; see origin at Magus
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
These are the Annunciation, the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi; Jesus praying on the Mount of Olives, the Crucifixion and the Lamentation; and, finally, the Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
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 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. 8, 2025
In some traditions, it celebrates the baptism of Jesus and in others the visit of the Three Magi to the Baby Jesus.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 6, 2024
He is wearing a richly worked gold and red oriental costume reminiscent of Balthazar’s in Jan Gossaert’s Adoration of the Magi, but without the crown and scarf.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
The uplighted orrery glows on the faces of two boys who lean into the circuits of solar orbit as it once glowed on the faces of the shepherds and magi at the crib in Bethlehem.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026
These wise men, or magi, will eventually arrive at the manger on Jan. 6, also known as Epiphany or Three Kings Day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 30, 2024
The kings sponsored Zoroastrian temples and expanded the faith at least in part because the faith supported them: the magi, or priests, preached in favor of the continued power and expansion of the empire.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020
At certain hours, children craned their necks up at the astronomical clock tower in the main square to see sculptures of the three magi emerging on a carousel.
From New York Times ● Jul. 7, 2018
I remember the soft face of Alessandro de’ Medici, the royal bearing of Bosch’s black magi.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Now, the couple oversee a dozen employees, and Magus handles a truly staggering number of books flooding in and out the doors on a daily basis.
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
“But about six months in, Chris was having so much more fun than I was,” McElroy explained, and she left corporate life behind to join him at Magus full time.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
Ask anyone to close their eyes and picture a four-decade-old used-book store situated next to a major university, and the bookstore they imagine is likely to resemble Magus Books in Seattle’s University District.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
Simon Magus, who believed himself attended by Moloch and Beelzebub, two princes of hell, under the respective forms of a leopard and a serpent, was the most remarkable sorcerer in the time of Christ.
From In Both Worlds by William Henry Holcombe
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
