# I dream of "Genie" (etymology)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dream-of-genie-etymology/253021>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 1, 2004, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dream-of-genie-etymology/253021 "2004-07-01T06:54:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dream-of-genie-etymology/253021/1 "2004-07-01T06:54:07Z")

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I’m curious about the etymology of the word “genie”. According to some online dictionaries, it comes from the Latin root of _genius_ (meaning “spirit”), via the French _genie_. Others say it comes from the Arabic _djinn_ or _jinni_ (meaning “genie” or “spirit”, but with slightly different overtones), which has the Semitic root _gnn_, once a verb meaning to conceal or cover and eventually applied to spirits.

How can they both be right? Both sound very plausible to me. A little help?

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dream-of-genie-etymology/253021/2 "2004-07-01T11:02:03Z")

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The spelling indicates that the Latin _genius_ is at the root of our present word. The word was used to translate the Middle Eastern word now rendered as “jinn” or “djinn”, and I suspect it was because of the similarity in spelling and sound, not to mention meaning. (Although the Arabic djinns are beings of fire, and the Roman Genmius was a household spirit.) However, I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if that similarity of both spelling and meaning didn’t go back to a single root word common to all the languages involved.  
It’s not like the case of “typhoon”, which some sources claim comes from the Greek mythological figure “Typhon”, while others claim comes from Chinese “Tai Fung”(?), supposed to mean “Great Wind”. No way that those are cognate.

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dream-of-genie-etymology/253021/3 "2004-07-01T11:13:08Z")

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Of course, then, there’s this:  
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=264288http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=264288](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=264288http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=264288)

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dream-of-genie-etymology/253021/4 "2004-07-01T21:06:01Z")

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BTW, in the “Our Gang” classic [A Lad an’ His Lamp](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0023107/combined), which gave us th immortal line “I wish Cotton wuz a monkey,” the genie is referred to as a “genius.”