Chinese

Noun

魔法

1. magic; wizardry; witchcraft; sorcery

Derived terms

Japanese

Etymology

Apparently from Middle Chinese compound 魔法 ‎(muɑ pjop, literally “devil, magic + law, method”). Compare modern Min Nan reading mô͘-hoat.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Goon
• (Tokyo) まほう [màhóó] (Heiban - [0])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [ma̠ho̞ː]

Noun

魔法 ‎(hiragana まほう, romaji mahō)

1. The arts of magic, spellcraft, witchcraft, wizardry, sorcery:
2. Spellwork such as magical formulas, incantations, spells, etc.
3. An organized body or system of magical use, i.e. Wicca, the Kabballah and Onmyōdō.

Usage notes

The term for magic as a trick performed by a modern magician is 手品 ‎(tejina).

Derived terms

Synonyms

• 魔術 (まじゅつ) ‎(majutsu)
• 妖術 (ようじゅつ) ‎(yōjutsu)
• 幻術 (げんじゅつ) ‎(genjutsu)
• 呪術 (じゅじゅつ) ‎(jujutsu)

References

1. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. ↑ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3

Korean

Noun

魔法 • ‎(mabeop) ‎(hangeul 마법)

1. Hanja form^? of 마법, “magic”.