Jinn Are Beings of Smokeless Fire
Jinn are supernatural beings in Arabian and Islamic belief. The English genie is a French mistranslation.
Jinn are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian and later Islamic belief, made of smokeless fire and possessing free will. The English *genie* comes from a coincidence: French translators of the Thousand and One Nights rendered Arabic *jinni* as *génie*, a Latin word for a guardian spirit that happened to sound similar. Two unrelated traditions merged through a pun. The Arabic root means hidden or concealed, the same root as *majnun*, possessed or mad.
- Supernatural beings. *The jinn.*
- Jinni — the singular. *A jinni.*
- Genie — the French rendering. *A genie.*
- Made of smokeless fire. *The tradition.*
- Arabic — *jinn*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Plural | jinn | The jinn. |
| Singular | jinni | A jinni. |
| Variant | djinn | Djinn. |
| Related | genie | A genie. |
| Arabic | janna | To conceal. |
- The jinn appear in the Quran.Religion.
- Genie came through French.Etymology.
- The root means hidden.Arabic.
How genie and jinni merged
- Latin genius meant a guardian spirit attending a person
- Arabic jinni meant a being of the hidden world
- French translators rendered one with the other for its sound
- The 1704 translation of the Thousand and One Nights spread it
- English inherited the blend complete
Arabic *jinn*, collective plural, from a root meaning to conceal or hide.
Are genie and jinni the same word?
Not originally. French translators rendered Arabic jinni as génie, a Latin word for a guardian spirit, because the two sounded alike.
What does the Arabic root mean?
Hidden or concealed. Jinn belong to a world unseen by humans, and the same root gives majnun, meaning possessed.