IGNIS FATUUS Definition & Meaning

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ignis fatuus

[ ig-nis fach-oo-uhs ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

plural ignes fatui

Also called friar's lantern, will-o'-the-wisp. a flitting phosphorescent light seen at night, chiefly over marshy ground, and believed to be due to spontaneous combustion of gas from decomposed organic matter.
something deluding or misleading.

ignis fatuus

/ ˈɪɡnɪs ˈfætjʊəs /

noun

another name for will-o'-the-wisp

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of ignis fatuus¹

1555–65; < Medieval Latin: literally, foolish fire

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of ignis fatuus¹

C16: from Medieval Latin, literally: foolish fire

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“That is an ignis fatuus,” was my first thought; and I expected it would soon vanish.

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The ignis fatuus was sometimes supposed to be the soul of an unbaptised child.

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We are beginning to believe Magdala to be a fata morgana, an ignis fatuus, which gets more and more distant the nearer we approach it.

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Never did a geographical entity seem so to play the ignis fatuus with the world as did the River.

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Nor he, nor any of the brave Plantagenets ever came to Ireland, for they were pursuing an ignis fatuus in France, instead of attending to their own business at home.

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