μάγος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Μάγος (Mágos), from indeterminate Old Iranian language origin (see Μάγος for details).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /má.ɡos/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈma.ɡos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈma.ɣos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈma.ɣos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈma.ɣos/

Adjective

μάγος • (mágos) m or f (neuter μάγον); second declension

magical

Declension

Second declension of μᾰ́γος; μᾰ́γον (Attic)

Number	Singular		Dual		Plural
Case/Gender	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	μᾰ́γος mágos	μᾰ́γον mágon	μᾰ́γω mágō	μᾰ́γω mágō	μᾰ́γοι mágoi	μᾰ́γᾰ mága
Genitive	μᾰ́γου mágou	μᾰ́γου mágou	μᾰ́γοιν mágoin	μᾰ́γοιν mágoin	μᾰ́γων mágōn	μᾰ́γων mágōn
Dative	μᾰ́γῳ mágōi	μᾰ́γῳ mágōi	μᾰ́γοιν mágoin	μᾰ́γοιν mágoin	μᾰ́γοις mágois	μᾰ́γοις mágois
Accusative	μᾰ́γον mágon	μᾰ́γον mágon	μᾰ́γω mágō	μᾰ́γω mágō	μᾰ́γους mágous	μᾰ́γᾰ mága
Vocative	μᾰ́γε máge	μᾰ́γον mágon	μᾰ́γω mágō	μᾰ́γω mágō	μᾰ́γοι mágoi	μᾰ́γᾰ mága
Derived forms	Adverb		Comparative		Superlative
Derived forms	μᾰ́γως mágōs		μᾰγώτερος magṓteros		μᾰγώτᾰτος magṓtatos
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

Latin: magus

Noun

μάγος • (mágos) m (genitive μάγου); second declension

(common, nonspecific) magician, and derogatorily sorcerer, trickster, conjurer, charlatan
(common, specific) a Zoroastrian priest. Compare e.g. Herodotus Hist. 1.132f, Xenophon Cyropedia 8.3.11, Porphyry Life of Pythagoras 12, Heraclitus apud Clemens Protrepticus 12, etc.
(hapax legomenon) name of one of the tribes of the Medes. This usage is only attested once; Herodotus Histories 1.101.

Note 1: meanings #1 and #2 overlap in classical usage— both derive from the Greek (and generally Hellenistic) identification of "Zoroaster" as the "inventor" of astrology and magic. The first meaning ('magician') derives from the sense of "practitioner of the Zoroaster's craft", and the second meaning ('priest') from the sense of "practitioner of Zoroaster's religion".

Note 2: meanings #2 and #3 were frequently conflated as one in 18th/19th/early 20th-century usage, giving "name of a Median priestly tribe" or similar. This combined meaning is no longer used in current scholarship.

Declension

Second declension of ὁ μᾰ́γος; τοῦ μᾰ́γου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ μᾰ́γος ho mágos	τὼ μᾰ́γω tṑ mágō	οἱ μᾰ́γοι hoi mágoi
Genitive	τοῦ μᾰ́γου toû mágou	τοῖν μᾰ́γοιν toîn mágoin	τῶν μᾰ́γων tôn mágōn
Dative	τῷ μᾰ́γῳ tôi mágōi	τοῖν μᾰ́γοιν toîn mágoin	τοῖς μᾰ́γοις toîs mágois
Accusative	τὸν μᾰ́γον tòn mágon	τὼ μᾰ́γω tṑ mágō	τοὺς μᾰ́γους toùs mágous
Vocative	μᾰ́γε máge	μᾰ́γω mágō	μᾰ́γοι mágoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

μαγικός (magikós)

Descendants

→ Coptic: ⲙⲁⲅⲟⲥ (magos)
Greek: μάγος (mágos)
→ Latin: magus
- → Dutch: magiër
- → English: Magi, mage, magus
- French: mage
- Italian: mago
- Portuguese: mago
- Spanish: mago

References

μάγος in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
G3097 in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible, 1979
Joseph Bidez and Franz Cumont, Les Mages hellénisés I, Paris, 1973.

Greek

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈma.ɣɔs/, [ˈmɐ.ɣo̞s̠]

Noun

μάγος • (mágos) m (plural μάγοι, feminine μάγισσα)

magician
wizard, sorcerer

Declension

declension of μάγος

	singular	plural
nominative	μάγος •	μάγοι •
genitive	μάγου •	μάγων •
accusative	μάγο •	μάγους •
vocative	μάγε •	μάγοι •

Related terms

μαγεία f (mageía, “magic”)
μαγεύω (magévo, “cast a spell, bewitch”)
μαγικά (magiká, “magically”)
μάγια f (mágia, “ferment, yeast”)

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