Dictionary

animagus en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌæn.ɪˈmeɪ.ɡəs/

Etymology

Coined by J. K. Rowling for her Harry Potter series as a blend of animal + magus. Term is introduced in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999).

Meanings

1. A person who can transform into an animal.
   • Lucifer was an Animagus, not by God’s hand, but perhaps by evolution or by willing it later and he used it in a successful attempt to lead Adam and Eve astray in the Garden of Eden. 2022 March 21, Barb Cantrell, I Want My Kids to Know Who God Really Is, Conneaut Lake, Pa.: Page Publishing, →ISBN:
   • You know it better as Harry Potter. / It’s full of werewolves, and animaguses, / And men with two faces. 2009, Farwa Shakeel, “Harry Potter”, in Inspired: 2009 Poetry Collection, Houlton, Me.: The America Library of Poetry, →ISBN, division I (Grades 3-5), page 58:
   • There is also the question of what we imagine the universes in the multiverse would look like in general. One is virtually forced to speculate, way beyond anything physics can say, that all possible universes exist, in order to guarantee one like ours coming about. Most of these universes would be dead. Of the tiny minority that had life at all, some would really have mythical creatures like unicorns, werewolves and animagi. 2007, Rodney D. Holder, “Is the universe designed?”, in Denis Alexander, editor, Has Science Killed God? The Faraday Papers on Science and Religion, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, published 2019, →ISBN, part 4 (Science, Faith and Philosophy):
   • When we match our crown chakras with the topmost lion and its crown, we have the odd experience of looking out from the eyes of the golden lion atop the Ray pillar, as if we have become this lion, shapeshifting like an animagus into a lion’s form, or perhaps into the Lion, as in the Lion archetype, one of the Holy Beasts, the angelic order with the four heads, one for each of the zodiacal quarters and one the figure of a lion. 2011, Richard Leviton, Hierophantic Landscapes: Lighting up Chalice Well, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, the Rondanes, and Oaxaca, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 519, column 1:
   • Animaguses are rare and all are supposed to be registered with the Ministry of Magic. One particularly famous animagus, according to author TH White, was the magician Merlin. 2010, Karen Farrington, Lewis Constable, “Glossary of Terms”, in The Potter Pensieve: Trivial Delights from the World of Harry Potter, London: Arcane, →ISBN, page 132:
   • "This is my friend Leonard. Leo you can transform back now." / Alexa smiled at the dog. All of a sudden, the husky jumped up onto his hind legs and before their very eyes the husky turned into a man. / "Dude that was awesome! Are you a..." Shinara questioned. / "An animagus? Yes." Leonard said looking back at Alexa. 2022, C[harlie-]L[ee] Davies, The Dark Elf: The Return of the Queen, London: Europe Books, →ISBN:
   • Think about how she [Minerva McGonagall] was only one among the seven officially registered Animaguses, in the twentieth century. Yes, of course, there were at least five other unregistered Animaguses, as revealed in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. 2022 May 30, Aditya Simha, “Cognitive Intelligence, Tests, and Consequences”, in Leadership Insights for Wizards and Witches (Exploring Effective Leadership Practices through Popular Culture), Bingley, West Yorkshire: Emerald Publishing, →ISBN, chapter 3 (Cognitive and Emotional Intelligence and Leadership):

Forms

Hypernyms

shapeshifter

Translations (1)

pt animago (a person who can transform into an animal)

wikipedia: Harry Potter · wikipedia: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban