MAGICAL • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Magical

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/mˈædʒɪkəl/ Listen

adjective

Magical, Magic adj.

1.

Pertaining to the hidden wisdom supposed to be possessed by the Magi; relating to the occult powers of nature, and the producing of effects by their agency.

2.

Performed by, or proceeding from, occult and superhuman agencies; done by, or seemingly done by, enchantment or sorcery; as, a magical spell. Hence: Seemingly requiring more than human power; imposing or startling in performance; producing effects which seem supernatural or very extraordinary; having extraordinary properties; as, a magic lantern; a magic square or circle. "The painter's magic skill." Note: Although with certain words magic is used more than magical, as, magic circle, magic square, magic wand, we may in general say magic or magical; as, a magic or magical effect; a magic or magical influence, etc. But when the adjective is predicative, magical, and not magic, is used; as, the effect was magical.

Magic circle, a series of concentric circles containing the numbers 12 to 75 in eight radii, and having somewhat similar properties to the magic square.

Magic humming bird (Zool.), a Mexican humming bird (Iache magica), having white downy thing tufts.

Magic lantern. See Lantern.

Magic square, numbers so disposed in parallel and equal rows in the form of a square, that each row, taken vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, shall give the same sum, the same product, or an harmonical series, according as the numbers taken are in arithmetical, geometrical, or harmonical progression.

Magic wand, a wand used by a magician in performing feats of magic.

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Etymology of 'Magical'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Magical" Quotes from Famous Books

... three Stuarts," he said, "as inseparable as the holy trefoil; and, as they say the wearer of that sacred herb mocks at magical delusion, so we, while we are true to each other, may set malice and enmity ...

— The Fair Maid of Perth • Sir Walter Scott

... spied nothing noticeable saving this: he sat in a folding chair and smoked, but every now and again he withdrew his cigar from his mouth and talked to it with a singular smile. It was a smile of cunning, that worked like some baleful, magical spirit in the fine high breeding of his features; changing his looks just as a painter of incomparable skill might colour a noble, familiar face into a diabolical expression, amazing those who knew it only in its honest and manly beauty. I ...

— The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 26, February 1893 - An Illustrated Monthly • Various

... gap of centuries, filled in by impossible stories of magical flight by witches, wizards, and the like—imagination was fertile in the dark ages, but the ban of the church was on all attempt at scientific development, especially in such a matter as the conquest of the air. Yet ...

— A History of Aeronautics • E. Charles Vivian

... the old that is transformed and completed. If there was not already implicit in man that which predisposed him for the higher life, a consciousness to which the spirit could appeal, then Christianity would be simply a mechanical or magical influence without ethical significance and having no relation to the past history of the individual. But that is not the teaching of our Lord or of His apostles. We are bound, therefore, to assume a certain ...

— Christianity and Ethics - A Handbook of Christian Ethics • Archibald B. C. Alexander

... of Bottlesby had a magical effect upon Dalton, and he seemed to become sober in a moment. He sprang to his feet, his eyes flashed fire, and cutting, stinging ...

— From Wealth to Poverty • Austin Potter

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