Genies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Supernatural beings in folklore, often depicted as granting wishes or possessing magical powers, with origins rooted in Middle Eastern mythology
2. Mythical entities popularized in stories that can appear as spirits or illusions, commonly able to fulfill the desires of those who release them from confinement
3. Enchanted figures, often bound to lamps or bottles, featuring prominently in tales where they offer three wishes to their liberators, originating from ancient tales

Etymology: "Genies" is the plural of "genie", a word that reached English from French, where "génie" originally meant "genius" in the sense of a guiding spirit. The French form was chosen because it sounded close to the Arabic "jinniyy", the term for the spirits that populate Islamic and pre-Islamic Arabian belief. Jinn are beings made of smokeless fire, able to take many shapes, and the French word gave them a familiar European sound while also suggesting a mind or talent, a meaning that would later shape how the English word was understood. The Arabic word itself comes from a root meaning "to conceal" or "to hide", since jinn were thought to move unseen among people. The lamp and bottle imagery that now defines the figure is a later addition, drawn largely from the collection of stories known in English as "The Arabian Nights", which made the jinn a magical servant bound to an object and granting wishes.

Synonyms: spirits, wishes, supernatural beings, djinn, entities