μάγος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Persian 𐎶𐎦𐏁 (m-gu-š /⁠maguš⁠/).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /má.ɡos/ → /ˈma.ɣos/ → /ˈma.ɣos/

• (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

1. 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
		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

1. (common, nonspecific) magician, and derogatorily sorcerer, trickster, conjurer, charlatan

   Synonyms: γόης (góēs), φᾰρμᾰκεύς (pharmakeús)

2. (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.
3. (hapax) name of one of the tribes of the Medes. This usage is only attested once; Herodotus Histories 1.101.

Usage notes

• 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".
• 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

• Greek: μάγος (mágos)
• → Coptic: ⲙⲁⲅⲟⲥ (magos)
• → Latin: magus (see there for further descendants)
• → Russian: маг (mag)

Further reading

• “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, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Joseph Bidez and Franz Cumont, Les Mages hellénisés I, Paris, 1973.

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μάγος (mágos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈma.ɣos/
• Hyphenation: μά‧γος

Noun

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

1. magician
2. wizard, sorcerer

Declension

Declension of μάγος

	singular	plural
nominative	μάγος (mágos)	μάγοι (mágoi)
genitive	μάγου (mágou)	μάγων (mágon)
accusative	μάγο (mágo)	μάγους (mágous)
vocative	μάγε (máge)	μάγοι (mágoi)

Related terms

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