Etymology

magi

Ma·gi
M3A1G2I1

Today it means: Chiefly preceded by the (three): the wise men who visited and gave gifts to the baby Jesus at the Epiphany (traditionally considered to be three in number and sometimes named Balthazar, Caspar, and Melchior, but the Bible does not state how many there were or their names). Full definition →

Middle English mages ← Latin magī ← Ancient Greek μάγος
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*megʰ-“to be able, have power; power; sorcerer”
  2. Old Iranian · derived from
  3. Ancient Greek · derived fromμάγος
  4. Latin · derived frommagī
  5. Middle English · inherited frommages
  6. English todayMagi

From magi (plural of magus (“magician; (derogatory) conjurer or sorcerer, especially one who is a charlatan or trickster; Zoroastrian priest”)), from Middle English mages, magi or Magi, magy or Magy (“men possessing occult knowledge; astrologers, philosophers, sorcerers”), from Latin magī, from magus (“magician; (derogatory) conjurer or sorcerer, especially one who is a charlatan or trickster; Zoroastrian priest”) + -ī (suffix forming nominative or vocative masculine plurals). Magus is derived from Ancient Greek μάγος (mágos), Μάγος (Mágos, “magician; (derogatory) conjurer, sorcerer; Zoroastrian priest”) (plural μᾰ́γοι (mắgoi), Μᾰ́γοι (Mắgoi)), from Old Iranian (compare Avestan 𐬨𐬊𐬕𐬎 (moġu), Old Median and Old Persian 𐎶𐎦𐎢𐏁 (m-gu-u-š /⁠maγu-⁠/, title of a person?)), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *megʰ- (“to be able, have power; power; sorcerer”).

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishmages all →

Ancient Greekμάγος all →

Proto-Indo-European*megʰ- all →

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Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.