genii

English

Etymology 1

Noun

genii

1. plural of genius
   1. (Roman mythology) Guardian spirits.
      • 1980, Colin Thubron, Seafarers: The Venetians, page 40:

        On the 11th Century glass bowl above, the painted figures—winged genii, nude athletes and brawny soldiers—resemble mythological characters but may be only lighthearted mimicry of ancient Greek or Roman subjects.

   2. Any similar beings of other mythologies.
      • 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 253:

        "According to the old wives' tales that are related about this race of genii who inhabit Iceland and its vicinity, they have a political form of government modelled after the same pattern as that which the inhabitants themselves are under.

   3. (rare, humorous) People possessing extraordinary intelligence or skill.
      • 1945 February, “Calendar”, in Mary Lou Shaw, Shirley Boulds, editors, The Anchor of February 1945, Newport News, Va.: Newport News High School, →OCLC:

        Quiz kids of Senior Class announced today. Jack Daniels, Valedictorian; Mary Lou Shaw, Salutatorian; Irvin Nachman, Third Honor Student; Boots Cumming, Highest Average, and Janet Davis, Second Highest Average. Just a bunch of genii that’s all.

      • 1973, “Honor Society”, in Kathie Ahern et al., editors, Log, Melrose, Mass.: Melrose High School, →OCLC, page 54:

        It aint oftin that you’s git a more better group of genii as was collected this year at good old Melrose High. To the credit of they, it can be said them didn’t do nothin’.

      • 1980 October 14, G[eorge] Evelyn Hutchinson, letter to Sharon Kingsland (Hutchinson Papers, MSSA, Yale University Library); quoted in Nancy G[uttmann] Slack, “Good Friends: Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson”, in G. Evelyn Hutchinson and the Invention of Modern Ecology, New Haven, Conn., London: Yale University Press, 2010, →ISBN, page 237:

        As Hutchinson saw it, his role was always “that of a student trying to learn quietly and unobtrusively from this extraordinary group of genii. G.B. and M.M. [Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead] were of course close personal friends. Wiener liked to hear about any branch of science. […]”

      • 2015, Tara Flynn, “L is for … Literature”, in Giving Out Yards: The Art of Complaint, Irish Style, Dublin: Hachette Books Ireland, published 2016, →ISBN, page 160:

        As far as we’re concerned, having our piece of this country’s rich literary history is our birthright. As such, we have a list of literary demands. Because we are genii, we expect this won’t be a problem.

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• genies

Noun

genii

1. plural of genie
   • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 196:

     The latter are not elementals but spirits of the Genii order, and correspond to the inferior "gods" of the invisible world.

Latin

Noun

geniī

1. inflection of genius:
   1. nominative/vocative plural
   2. genitive singular