ignis fatuus

American  

[ig-nis fach-oo-uhs] / ˈɪg nɪs ˈfætʃ u əs /

noun

plural

ignes fatui

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.

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ignis fatuus British  

/ ˈɪɡnɪs ˈfætjʊəs /

noun

1. another name for will-o'-the-wisp

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Etymology

Origin of ignis fatuus

1555–65; < Medieval Latin: literally, foolish fire

Example Sentences

The ignis fatuus is almost extinct; so much so that Jack-o’-the-Lantern has died out of the village folklore.

From Wild Life in a Southern County by Jefferies, Richard

Character, the vital principle of the individual, is the ignis fatuus of the mechanical biographer.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 3 "Borgia, Lucrezia" to "Bradford, John" by Various

What shells would he not have expended upon the poor ignis fatuus!

From Memoirs of the Extraordinary Military Career of John Shipp Late a Lieut. in His Majesty's 87th Regiment by Shipp, John

The vain pomp and pageantries of courts and the splendour of fortune have ever been an ignis fatuus to seduce the people to their ruin.

From Secret History of the Court of England, from the Accession of George the Third to the Death of George the Fourth, Volume I (of 2) Including, Among Other Important Matters, Full Particulars of the Mysterious Death of the Princess Charlotte by Hamilton, Lady Anne

Are we following an ignis fatuus in setting it up as the panacea for the defects of our communities?

From Problems in Greek history by Mahaffy, John Pentland