ignis-fatuus
nɪs ˈfætʃ noun, plural ig·nes fat·u·i 
[ig-neez fach-oo-ahy] .
[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; < Medieval Latin: literally, foolish fire
1555–65; < Medieval Latin: literally, foolish fire
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To ignis-fatuus
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World English Dictionary
ignis fatuus (ˈɪɡnɪs ˈfætjʊəs) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n , pl ignes fatui | |
| another name for will-o'-the-wisp | |
| [C16: from Medieval Latin, literally: foolish fire] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Ignis-fatuus
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
Etymonline
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, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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