magician

/məˈdʒɪʃən/

/məˈdʒɪʃɪn/

Other forms: magicians

A magician does magic tricks. You might hire a magician to pull rabbits out of hats and do card tricks at your next birthday party.

A performer whose specialty is sleight-of-hand and other illusions is one kind of magician. Another magician is the kind who makes real magic, casting spells and summoning spirits. More people believe in the first kind of magician — who is simply pretending to do magic — than the second. The word stems from the Old French magiciien, "magician or sorcerer," which is rooted in the Greek word for "magical," magikos.

Definitions of magician

1. noun

   someone who performs magic tricks to amuse an audience
   synonyms: conjurer, conjuror, illusionist, prestidigitator

   types:

   escape expert, escapologist

   an entertainer who is expert in the art of escaping

   mind reader, telepathist, thought-reader

   a magician who seems to discern the thoughts of another person (usually by clever signals from an accomplice)

   type of:

   performer, performing artist

   an entertainer who performs a dramatic or musical work for an audience
2. noun

   one who practices magic or sorcery
   synonyms: necromancer, sorcerer, thaumaturge, thaumaturgist, wizard

   examples:

   Count Alessandro di Cagliostro

   Italian who was famous as a magician and alchemist (1743-1795)

   types:

   enchanter

   a sorcerer or magician

   exorciser, exorcist

   someone who practices exorcism

   magus

   a magician or sorcerer of ancient times

   sorceress

   a woman sorcerer

   witch doctor

   someone who is believed to heal through magical powers

   Circe

   (Greek mythology) a sorceress who detained Odysseus on her island and turned his men into swine

   conjure man, conjurer, conjuror

   a witch doctor who practices conjury

   type of:

   occultist

   a believer in occultism; someone versed in the occult arts