will o' the wisp

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

from Will (“male given name”) + of the + wisp (“bundle of straw or hay used as a torch”)

Noun

will o’ the wisp (plural will o' the wisps)

1. (idiomatic, British folklore) A strange light that attracts travellers from pathways into dangerous marshes or graveyards.
2. (idiomatic) A delusional or otherwise unobtainable goal that one feels compelled to pursue.

Synonyms

• (strange light): will-o'-wisp , ignis fatuus, spooklights, ghost lights
• (strange light): hinkypunk (west Country dialect)
• (strange light): jack o'lantern (US)

Translations

strange light

• Afrikaans: dwaallig (af)
• Bengali: আলেয়া (bn)
• Catalan: foc follet (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鬼火 (cmn) (guǐhuǒ)

• Czech: bludička (cs)
• Dutch: dwaallicht (nl)
• Esperanto: vaglumo (eo)
• Finnish: virvatuli (fi), aarnituli (fi), aarnivalkea (fi)
• French: feu follet (fr) m
• Friulian: fûc voladi (fur) m
• German: Irrlicht (de), Sumpflichter (de)
• Hungarian: lidérc (hu)

• Italian: fuoco fatuo (it) m
• Japanese: 鬼火 (ja), ウィルオウィスプ (ja)
• Korean: 도깨비불 (ko) (doggaebibul)
• Latin: (Modern Latin) ignis fatuus (la) m
• Latvian: malduguns (lv)
• Low German: Spöklicht (nds-de), Dodenlücht (nds-de)
• Maori: tūtutupo (mi)
• Norman: bélengi, veue d'aventuthe
• Polish: ognik (pl)
• Portuguese: fogo-fátuo (pt) m, fogo tolo (pt) m, fogo corredor (pt) m, João-galafoice (pt)
• Russian: блуждающий огонёк (bluždájuščij ogonjók) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: divlji oganj (sh) m

• Spanish: fuego fatuo (es) m
• Swedish: irrbloss (sv)
• Ukrainian: вогники мандрівні (uk) (vohnyky mandrivni)

delusional goal

• Finnish: virvatuli (fi)

• Swedish: bländverk (sv)

See also

• min min lights

External links

• "Will o’ the wisp" at Folklore of the British Isles