Fata Morgana

[ Italian fah-tah mawr-gah-nah ]

noun

1. Meteorology. a mirage consisting of multiple images, as of cliffs and buildings, that are distorted and magnified to resemble elaborate castles, often seen near the Straits of Messina.

Fata Morgana

/ ˈfɑːtə mɔːˈɡɑːnə; ˈfaːta mɔrˈɡaːna /

noun

1. a mirage, esp one in the Strait of Messina attributed to the sorcery of Morgan le Fay

Word History and Origins

Origin of Fata Morgana¹

1810–20; < Italian, translation of Morgan le Fay, associated in literature with magical castles

Word History and Origins

Origin of Fata Morgana¹

C19: from Italian: Morgan le Fay

Example Sentences

In it he wrote: “I saw the iceberg, looming high/ and cold, like a cold fata morgana,/ it drifted slowly, irrevocably,/ white, nearer to me.”

From New York Times

It could be something called a fata morgana, she says, which is a certain kind of atmospheric mirage.

From National Geographic

A fata morgana is defined as a mirage.

From Architectural Digest

We are beginning to believe Magdala to be a fata morgana, an ignis fatuus, which gets more and more distant the nearer we approach it.

From Project Gutenberg

The snow was fresh and new, but yet the snow was not real nature to her, who always saw her distant landscape, like a fata morgana, quivering in pure incandescence of light.

From Project Gutenberg