The Latin name ignis fatuus is composed of ignis , meaning "fire" and fatuus , an adjective meaning "foolish", "silly" or "simple"; it can thus be literally translated into English as "foolish fire" or more idiomatically as "giddy flame". Despite its Latin origins, the term ignis fatuus is not attested in antiquity, and what the ancient Romans called the will-o'-wisp may be unknown. The term is not attested in the Middle Ages either. Instead, the Latin ignis fatuus is documented no earlier than the 16th century in Germany, where it was coined by a German humanist, and appears to be a free translation of the long-existing German name Irrlicht ("wandering light", "erring light") conceived of in German folklore as a mischievous spirit of nature; the Latin translation was made to lend the German name intellectual credibility. Beside Irrlicht , the will-o'-the-wisp has also been called in German Irrwisch (where Wisch translates to "wisp"), as found in e.g. Martin Luther's writings of the same 16th century.
The Latin name is composed of , meaning "fire" and , an adjective meaning "foolish", "silly" or "simple"; it can thus be literally translated into English as "foolish fire" or more idiomatically as "giddy flame". Despite its Latin origins, the term ignis fatuus is not attested in antiquity, and what the ancient Romans called the will-o'-wisp may be unknown. The term is not attested in the Middle Ages either. Instead, the Latin is documented no earlier than the 16th century in Germany, where it was coined by a German humanist, and appears to be a free translation of the long-existing German name ("wandering light", "erring light") conceived of in German folklore as a mischievous spirit of nature; the Latin translation was made to lend the German name intellectual credibility. Beside , the will-o'-the-wisp has also been called in German (where translates to "wisp"), as found in e.g. Martin Luther's writings of the same 16th century.
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ignis fatuus
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ignis
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fatuus
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ignis fatuus
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Irrlicht
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Irrlicht
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Irrwisch (where Wisch
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