genii
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English
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Noun
[edit]genii
- plural of genius
- (Roman mythology) Guardian spirits.
- 1980, Colin Thubron, Seafarers: The Venetians, page 40:
- On the 11th Century glass bowl above, the painted figures—winged genii, nude athletes and brawny soldiers—resemble mythological characters but may be only lighthearted mimicry of ancient Greek or Roman subjects.
- Any similar beings of other mythologies.
- 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 253:
- "According to the old wives' tales that are related about this race of genii who inhabit Iceland and its vicinity, they have a political form of government modelled after the same pattern as that which the inhabitants themselves are under.
- (rare, humorous) People possessing extraordinary intelligence or skill.
- 1945 February, “Calendar”, in Mary Lou Shaw, Shirley Boulds, editors, The Anchor of February 1945, Newport News, Va.: Newport News High School, →OCLC:
- Quiz kids of Senior Class announced today. Jack Daniels, Valedictorian; Mary Lou Shaw, Salutatorian; Irvin Nachman, Third Honor Student; Boots Cumming, Highest Average, and Janet Davis, Second Highest Average. Just a bunch of genii that’s all.
- 1973, “Honor Society”, in Kathie Ahern et al., editors, Log, Melrose, Mass.: Melrose High School, →OCLC, page 54:
- It aint oftin that you’s git a more better group of genii as was collected this year at good old Melrose High. To the credit of they, it can be said them didn’t do nothin’.
- 1980 October 14, G[eorge] Evelyn Hutchinson, letter to Sharon Kingsland (Hutchinson Papers, MSSA, Yale University Library); quoted in Nancy G[uttmann] Slack, “Good Friends: Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson”, in G. Evelyn Hutchinson and the Invention of Modern Ecology, New Haven, Conn., London: Yale University Press, 2010, →ISBN, page 237:
- As Hutchinson saw it, his role was always “that of a student trying to learn quietly and unobtrusively from this extraordinary group of genii. G.B. and M.M. [Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead] were of course close personal friends. Wiener liked to hear about any branch of science. […]”
- 2015, Tara Flynn, “L is for … Literature”, in Giving Out Yards: The Art of Complaint, Irish Style, Dublin: Hachette Books Ireland, published 2016, →ISBN, page 160:
- As far as we’re concerned, having our piece of this country’s rich literary history is our birthright. As such, we have a list of literary demands. Because we are genii, we expect this won’t be a problem.
- (Roman mythology) Guardian spirits.
Etymology 2
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Noun
[edit]genii
- plural of genie
- 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 196:
- The latter are not elementals but spirits of the Genii order, and correspond to the inferior "gods" of the invisible world.
Etymology 3
[edit]Noun
[edit]genii
- (nonstandard) plural of genus
Latin
[edit]Noun
[edit]geniī