illusion

See also: Illusion

English

Etymology

From Old French illusion, from Latin illūsiō, from illūdere, from in- (“at, upon”) + lūdere (“to play, mock, trick”). Displaced native Old English dwimmer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈl(j)uːʒ(ə)n/
• enPR: ĭ-lo͞o'zhən, IPA^(key): [ɪˈluː.ʒən]
• IPA^(key): /ɪˈl(j)uːzj(ə)n/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːʒən

Noun

illusion (countable and uncountable, plural illusions)

1. (countable) Anything that seems to be something that it is not.

   We saw what looked like a tiger among the trees, but it was an illusion caused by the shadows of the branches.

   Using artificial additives, scientists can create the illusion of fruit flavours in food.

   • 2002, “Do You Realize??”, performed by The Flaming Lips:

     You realize the sun don't go down it's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round.

2. (countable) A misapprehension; a belief in something that is in fact not true.

   Jane has this illusion that John is in love with her.

3. (countable) A magician’s trick.
4. (uncountable) The state of being deceived or misled.

   Synonym: misapprehension

Derived terms

Derived terms

• illusionist
• illusory

• optical illusion
• under the illusion that

Translations

anything that seems to be something that it is not

• Arabic: هَلْوَسَة (ar) f (halwasa), وَهْم m (wahm), اِنْخِدَاع m (inḵidāʕ)
• Armenian: պատրանք (hy) (patrankʻ)
• Basque: irudipen, ameskeria (eu), itxaropen (eu)
• Bulgarian: илюзия (bg) f (iljuzija)
• Catalan: il·lusió (ca) f, (Algherese) illusió
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 幻覺／幻觉 (zh) (huànjué), 幻觉 (zh) (huànjué), 幻想 (zh) (huànxiǎng)

• Czech: iluze f
• Danish: illusion c
• Dutch: illusie (nl) f, zinsbegoocheling (nl) f
• Esperanto: iluzio
• Estonian: näiline
• Finnish: illuusio (fi), havaintoharha, harha (fi)
• French: illusion (fr) f
• Georgian: ილუზია (iluzia)
• German: Illusion (de) f, Wahnvorstellung (de) f, Sinnestäuschung f
• Greek: παραίσθηση (el) f (paraísthisi)
• Hebrew: אשליה (he) f (ashlaya)
• Hindi: भ्रम (hi) (bhram)
• Hungarian: illúzió (hu)
• Ido: iluziono (io)
• Indonesian: ilusi (id)
• Italian: illusione (it) f
• Japanese: 幻覚 (ja) (げんかく, genkaku), 幻想 (ja) (げんそう, gensō)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: 환각 (ko) (hwan'gak) (幻覺), 환상 (ko) (hwansang)
• Latvian: acu māns m
• Ligurian: illüziùn
• Lithuanian: iliuzija f
• Maltese: illużjoni
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: illusjon m

  Nynorsk: illusjon m

• Persian: وهم (fa) (vahm)
• Polish: złudzenie (pl) n, iluzja (pl) f
• Portuguese: ilusão (pt) f
• Romanian: iluzie (ro) f
• Russian: иллю́зия (ru) f (illjúzija), наважде́ние (ru) n (navaždénije)
• Serbo-Croatian: opsena (sh) f
• Slovak: ilúzia f
• Slovene: iluzija (sl) f
• Spanish: ilusión (es) f
• Swedish: illusion (sv) c, synvilla (sv) c
• Tagalog: tagimpan, panagimpan
• Thai: ภาพลวงตา (paa pluang dtaa)
• Turkish: yanılsama (tr)
• Welsh: rhith f
• Yiddish: אילוזיע f (iluzye)

belief in something that is in fact not true

• Bulgarian: илюзия (bg) f (iljuzija)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 幻想 (zh) (huànxiǎng), 幻覺／幻觉 (zh) (huànjué), 幻觉 (zh) (huànjué)

• Danish: illusion c
• Dutch: illusie (nl) f
• Finnish: harhakuvitelma (fi), harhaluulo (fi)
• Georgian: ილუზია (iluzia)
• German: Illusion (de) f
• Greek: ψευδαίσθηση (el) f (psevdaísthisi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 幻想 (ja) (げんそう, gensō)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: illusjon m

  Nynorsk: illusjon m

• Polish: iluzja (pl) f
• Russian: иллю́зия (ru) f (illjúzija)
• Serbo-Croatian: opsena (sh) f
• Swedish: illusion (sv) c, förvillelse c

magician's trick

• Bulgarian: илюзия (bg) f (iljuzija)
• Danish: illusion c
• Dutch: illusie (nl) f, truuk (nl) m, trick (nl) m
• Estonian: võlutrikk, illusioon
• Finnish: illuusio (fi), taikatemppu (fi)
• French: illusion (fr) f
• Georgian: ილუზიონი (iluzioni)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: κόπλο n (kóplo)
• Hebrew: אשליה (he) f (ashlaya)
• Latin: praestīgiae f pl
• Polish: iluzja (pl)
• Russian: иллю́зия (ru) f (illjúzija)
• Swedish: illusion (sv) c, trick (sv) n
• Westrobothnian:

state of being misled or deceived

• Russian: иллю́зия (ru) f (illjúzija)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} illusion (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} tálvon (is) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

See also

• mirage

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Danish

Etymology

From French illusion, from Latin illūsio.

Noun

illusion c (singular definite illusionen, plural indefinite illusioner)

1. illusion

Inflection

Declension of illusion

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	illusion	illusionen	illusioner	illusionerne
genitive	illusions	illusionens	illusioners	illusionernes

---

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i.ly.zjɔ̃/

• Audio (France, Paris)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔ̃
• Homophone: illusions

Noun

illusion f (plural illusions)

1. illusion

Related terms

• illusoire
• illusoirement

Further reading

• “illusion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪlɵˈɧuːn/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

illusion c

1. an illusion

Declension

Declension of illusion
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	illusion	illusionen	illusioner	illusionerna
Genitive	illusions	illusionens	illusioners	illusionernas

Related terms

• illusorisk

See also

• illustration
• illustrera
• synvilla
• trick