legerdemain

C2+ Topic:Describing People

US /ˌlɛdʒɚdɪˈmeɪn/ UK /ˌlɛdʒədɪˈmeɪn/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
sleight of hand; skillful deception or trickery

The magician's legerdemain left the audience baffled.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · sleight of hand; skillful... trickery sleight conjuring deception prestidigitation artifice chicanery

Etymology

From Middle French léger de main ('light of hand'), from léger ('light', from Latin levis) + de ('of') + main ('hand', from Latin manus).

léger de main Middle French levis Latin manus Latin

View etymology graph ->

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# legerdemain

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˌlɛdʒɚdɪˈmeɪn/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌlɛdʒədɪˈmeɪn/

## Meanings
1. sleight of hand; skillful deception or trickery

## Examples
- The magician's legerdemain left the audience baffled.

## Synonyms
- trickery
- sleight
- conjuring
- deception
- prestidigitation
- artifice
- chicanery

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: léger de main
- Root: levis
- Root: manus

## Etymology
From Middle French léger de main ('light of hand'), from léger ('light', from Latin levis) + de ('of') + main ('hand', from Latin manus).

## AI Etymology
Legerdemain comes from Middle French léger de main ('light of hand'), from léger ('light', from Latin levis) + de ('of') + main ('hand', from Latin manus). The etymological trail includes Middle French léger de main, Latin levis, and Latin manus. As a noun, legerdemain means sleight of hand; skillful deception or trickery. Morphologically, the word is built from the elements named in its history, so the modern form preserves a visible compound, prefix, or suffix structure.

## Topics
- Describing People

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legerdemain

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