genie

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a jinn: a spirit being in Islamic and pre-Islamic Arabian tradition, capable of choosing good or evil and normally invisible to humans

   The tale describes a genie who lived unseen among the ruins.

2. 2
   noun

   in popular fiction, a magical spirit often confined in a lamp or bottle and compelled to grant wishes

   The child wished that a genie would appear from the old lamp.

From French genie, 'spirit,' influenced by French genie, 'genius,' and used to represent Arabic jinni, the singular of jinn. European retellings of Arabian tales popularized the narrower image of a spirit bound to a vessel and granting wishes.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images