magus

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A member of the Zoroastrian priestly caste of the Medes and Persians.
2. n. In the New Testament, one of the wise men from the East, traditionally held to be three, who traveled to Bethlehem to pay homage to the infant Jesus.
3. n. A sorcerer; a magician.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. One of the members of the learned and priestly caste in ancient Persia, who had official charge of the sacred rites, practised interpretation of dreams, professed supernatural arts, and were distinguished by peculiarities of dress and insignia. Their origin may be traced to the Accadians, a Turanian race, the earliest settlers of the lower Euphrates valley. The first historical reference to the Magi occurs in Jer. xxxix. 3, 13, where a Babylonian rab-mag, or chief of the Magi, is mentioned in connection with the siege, capture, and rule of Jerusalem.
2. n. In Christian history, one of the “wise men” who, according to the Gospel of Matthew (ii. 1, 2), came from the East to Jerusalem to do homage to the new-born King of the Jews. A tradition as old as the second century (resting on Ps. lxxii. 10; Isa. xlix. 7) makes them kings, and at a later period the names Melchior, Kaspar, and Balthasar become attached to them. As the first of the pagans to whom the birth of the Messiah was announced, they are honored at the feast of Epiphany; in the calendar, however, the three days immediately following the first of the new year are called after them. In works of art the youngest of them is represented as a Moor.

Wiktionary

1. n. common usage magician, and derogatorily sorcerer, trickster, conjurer, charlatan
2. n. a Zoroastrian priest

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. a magician or sorcerer of ancient times.
2. n. a member of the Zoroastrian priesthood of the ancient Persians.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a magician or sorcerer of ancient times
2. n. a member of the Zoroastrian priesthood of the ancient Persians