genie

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈd͡ʒiː.ni/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French génie (“spirit”),^[2][3][4] from Latin genius (“guardian spirit”).^[2][3][4][5] The French word was used by the translator of the Arabian Nights for Arabic jinnī, which it happened to resemble,^[4][3][6] so Merriam-Webster gives Arabic jinnī as its source.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A guardian spirit (1655).^[6][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Like genius, the word first meant a tutelary spirit, and also a person's natural bent (1662).^[6] From 1748 it was used for the jinn of Arabian stories,^[6][3][4] and this is the only living sense:^[7][1] a magic spirit that appears in human form and does the bidding of whoever summons it.^[2][7][5]

Timeline

• 1655 – a guardian spirit (obsolete).^[6][3]
• 1662 – natural bent, disposition (obsolete).^[6]
• 1676 – a person of genius (obsolete).^[6]
• 1748 – a jinni of Arabian demonology.^[6][3][7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A magic spirit that carries out the wishes of whoever summons it.
2. A jinni, a spirit of Arabian and Islamic belief.

Related words

• genius
• jinn
• jinni

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster