ignis fatuus

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Definitions (6)

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  1. noun A phosphorescent light that hovers or flits over swampy ground at night, possibly caused by spontaneous combustion of gases emitted by rotting organic matter. Also called friar's lantern, jack-o'-lantern, will-o'-the-wisp, wisp.
  2. noun Something that misleads or deludes; an illusion.

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

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  1. Medieval Latin : Latin ignis, fire + Latin fatuus, foolish.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. New Latin, literally“fool's fire,’ i. e. illusive fire, a term first used in the Middle Latin or New Latin period: L. ignis, fire; fatuus, foolish: see igneous and fatuous.
 

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/ˈɪgˈnɪs fætʃjuəs/
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