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friar's lantern

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ig⋅nis fat⋅u⋅us

  [ig-nis fach-oo-uhs]
–noun, plural ig⋅nes fat⋅u⋅i  [ig-neez fach-oo-ahy] .
1. 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.
2. something deluding or misleading.
Origin:
1555–65; < ML: lit., foolish fire
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To friar's lantern
fri·ar's lantern   (frī'ərz)
n.  See ignis fatuus.
ig·nis fat·u·us   (ĭg'nĭs fāch'ōō-əs)   
n.   pl. ig·nes fat·u·i (ĭg'nēz fāch'ōō-ī')

  1. A phosphorescent light that hovers or flits over swampy ground at night, possibly caused by spontaneous combustion of gases emitted by rotting organic matter. Also called friar's lantern, jack-o'-lantern, will-o'-the-wisp, wisp.

  2. Something that misleads or deludes; an illusion.


[Medieval Latin : Latin ignis, fire + Latin fatuus, foolish.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

ignis fatuus 
"will o' the wisp, jack-a-lantern," 1563, from M.L., lit. "foolish fire." It seems once to have been more common than presently.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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