magic
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈmad͡ʒɪk/
ipa: /ˈmæd͡ʒɪk/
rhymes: -ædʒɪk
Forms: form: magics
form: magick
form: magicke
form: magique
Etymology: From Middle English magik, magyk, from Old French magique (noun and adjective), from Latin magicus (adjective), magica (noun use of feminine form of magicus), from Ancient Greek μαγικός (magikós, “magical”), from μάγος (mágos, “magus”). Ultimately from Old Iranian, probably derived from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂gʰ- (“to be able to, to help; power, sorcerer”). Displaced native Old English ġealdor (survived in Middle English galder), and dwimmer.
Senses: examples: text: “My magic will help you find true love,” said the witch as she looked for the right herbs in her collection.
text: And whan he shall be arrayed as I telle you / lete hym thenne doo his incantacyons & his magyke as he wyll […].
ref: c. 1489, Foure Sonnes of Aymon, William Caxton:
text: But by what magique I, that here have ſtood / Four hunderd yeares (thou know’ſt how truly ſpoke), / Can now remove, think’ſt thou?
ref: 1653, William Basse, “The Metamorphosis of the Wallnut-tree of Borestall. In an Eglogue and 3 Cantos, betweene Jasper and Jefferye.”, in J[ohn] P[ayne] C[ollier], editor, The Pastorals and Other Workes of William Basse. […] (Miscellaneous Tracts, Temp. Eliz. & Jac. I), [London: s.n.], published 1870, →OCLC, canto 2, stanza 19, page 122:
text: The arts of magic and divination were strictly prohibited.
ref: 1781, Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, II.23:
text: Does not the very name stir the heart [...] with a thrill more mysterious and romantic than any allusion to the magics of Egypt or Hind?
ref: 1928, Lewis Spence, Mysteries of Britain, page viii. 192:
text: Conversions to the new religion […] have frequently been assisted by the view of converts that they are acquiring not just a means of otherworldly salvation, but a new and more powerful magic.
ref: 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 23:
text: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
ref: 1973, Arthur C. Clark, Profiles of the future, revised edition:
glosses: The application of rituals or actions, especially those based on occult knowledge, to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces in order to have some benefit from them.
glosses: The application of rituals or actions, especially those based on occult knowledge, to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces in order to have some benefit from them.
The supernatural forces which are drawn on in such a ritual.
examples: text: And she can turn people into stone and do all kinds of horrible things. And she has made a magic so that it is always winter in Narnia—always winter, but it never gets to Christmas.
ref: 1950, C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:
text: "I am the master of mighty magics."
ref: 2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 116:
glosses: The application of rituals or actions, especially those based on occult knowledge, to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces in order to have some benefit from them.
A specific ritual or procedure associated with such magic; a spell; a magical ability.
examples: text: I learned a new magic after rescuing the tree fairy.
topics: games
gaming
glosses: The application of rituals or actions, especially those based on occult knowledge, to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces in order to have some benefit from them.
The ability to cast a magic spell.
examples: text: The original family who had begun to build a palace to outrival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.
ref: 1963, Margery Allingham, “The Elopers”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 25:
text: We began to take Santa Claus to the kids at the isolated sidings for the same reason men all over Australia on the lines back o' beyond did [...] we didn't want them to miss that magic.
ref: 1969, Patsy Adam-Smith, Folklore of the Australian Railwaymen, Melbourne: Macmillan, page 151:
glosses: Something producing successful and remarkable results, especially when not fully understood; an enchanting quality; exceptional skill.
examples: text: The stringstream class hides a lot of string parsing magic from us at this point.
ref: 2017, Jacek Galowicz, C++17 STL Cookbook, page 257:
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: Something producing successful and remarkable results, especially when not fully understood; an enchanting quality; exceptional skill.
Complicated or esoteric code that is not expected to be generally understood.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
glosses: The art or practice of performing conjuring tricks and illusions to give the appearance of supernatural phenomena or powers.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
glosses: The art or practice of performing conjuring tricks and illusions to give the appearance of supernatural phenomena or powers.
One such conjuring trick or illusion.
Synonyms: sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: dwimmer
sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: dweomercraft
sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: dwimmercraft
sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: thaumaturgy
sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: conjuring
sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: sorcery
sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: witchery
sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: witchcraft
sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: wizardry
sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: wizardcraft
sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: warlockry
sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: hexcraft
sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: spellcraft
sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: spellcasting
sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: spellwork
sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: charmwork
sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: wandwork
sense: allegedly supernatural method to dominate natural forces
word: enchantment
sense: illusion performed to give the appearance of magic or the supernatural
word: sleight of hand
sense: illusion performed to give the appearance of magic or the supernatural
word: illusionism
sense: illusion performed to give the appearance of magic or the supernatural
word: legerdemain
sense: illusion performed to give the appearance of magic or the supernatural
word: dwimmer
Derived terms: antimagic
as if by magic
automagic
bemagicked
bizarre magic
black magic
cacomagic
chaos magic
Chinese magic mirror
contagious magic
counter-magic
cybermagic
dark magic
gray magic
grey magic
homeopathic magic
image magic
letter magic
like magic
magic acid
magical
magic asterisk
magic box
magicdom
magic feminism
magicful
magicity
magicker
magicky
magic lamp
magic lantern show
magicless
magiclike
magic-like
magic link
magic mirror
magic moment
magic money tree
magic mug
magic negro
magic Negro
magic nigger
magic of diversification
magicology
magic packet
magic potion
magic pudding
magic realist
magic roundabout
magic sauce
magic shop
magic slate
magic spell
magic string
magic touch
magic truffle
magicube
magic underwear
magic user
magic word
meme magic
metamagic
most-perfect magic square
mysto-magic
natural magic
nonmagic
outmagic
pandiagonal magic square
panmagic
prime reciprocal magic square
puff the magic dragon
stage magic
submagic
sympathetic magic
technomagic
unmagic
Vancian magic
white magic
wiki magic
work one's magic
magical § Derived terms
Related terms: magician