Found 1 items, similar to Will-with-the-wisp.
English → English (gcide)
Definition: Will-with-the-wisp
Ignis fatuus
\Ig“nis fat”u*us\; pl.
Ignes fatui. [L. ignis
fire + fatuus foolish. So called in allusion to its tendency
to mislead travelers.]
1. A phosphorescent light that appears, in the night, over
marshy ground, supposed to be occasioned by the
decomposition of animal or vegetable substances, or by
some inflammable gas; -- popularly called also
Will-with-the-wisp, or
Will-o'-the-wisp, and
Jack-with-a-lantern, or
Jack-o'-lantern.
[1913 Webster]
2. Fig.: A misleading influence; a decoy.
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Scared and guided by the ignis fatuus of popular
superstition. --Jer. Taylor.
[1913 Webster]