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legerdemain - 7 dictionary results
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leg⋅er⋅de⋅main

  [lej-er-duh-meyn]
Use legerdemain in a Sentence
–noun
1. sleight of hand.
2. trickery; deception.
3. any artful trick.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME legerdemeyn, lygarde de mayne < MF: lit., light of hand

Related forms:
leg⋅er⋅de⋅main⋅ist, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To legerdemain
leg·er·de·main   (lěj'ər-də-mān')   
n.  
  1. Sleight of hand.
  2. A show of skill or deceitful cleverness: financial legerdemain.

[Middle English legerdemayn, from Old French leger de main : leger, light (from Vulgar Latin *leviārius, from Latin levis; see legwh- in Indo-European roots) + de, of (from Latin dē; see de-) + main, hand; see mortmain.]
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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Main Entry:  legerdemain1
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  sleight of hand; magic tricks; any illusory feat
Etymology:  French 'light of hand'
Main Entry:  legerdemain2
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  trickery; deception
Etymology:  French 'light of hand'
Main Entry:  legerdemain3
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  one who performs magic tricks
Etymology:  French 'light of hand'
Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
Copyright © 2003-2009 Dictionary.com, LLC
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Legerdemain

Leg`er*de*main"\ (l[e^]j`[~e]r*d[-e]*m[=a]n"), n. [F. l['e]ger light, nimble + de of + main hand, L. manus. See 3d Leger, and Manual.] Sleight of hand; a trick of sleight of hand; hence, any artful deception or trick.

He of legierdemayne the mysteries did know. --Spenser.

The tricks and legerdemain by which men impose upon their own souls. --South.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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legerdemain 
c.1430, "conjuring tricks," from M.Fr. léger de main "quick of hand," from léger "light" in weight (from L. levis "light;" see lever) + main "hand" (from L. manus, see manual).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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