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Wiktionary

miracle

See also: Miracle

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English miracle, from Old French miracle, from Latin mīrāculum (“object of wonder”), from mīror (“to wonder at”), from mīrus (“wonderful”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meyh₂- (“to smile, to be astonished”). Doublet of milagro and miraculum. Partially displaced native wonder, from Old English wundor (“miracle, wonder”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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miracle (plural miracles)

  1. An event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature and so is held to be supernatural in origin.
    Many religious beliefs are based on miracles.
    An example of a miracle associated with Muhammad is the splitting of the moon.
    • 2018 July 1, “Gene Editing”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 5, episode 18, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:
      That’s fantastic! And he’s right, it is a miracle! E-Except when you think about it, it’s actually not, it’s science, which I’d argue is actually better and more convenient than a miracle because you don’t have to spend the next 2000 years worshipping the scientists, you can just be like, “thanks!”
  2. A fortunate outcome that prevails despite overwhelming odds against it.
    • 1966 November 25, “A Great Document Made by Wisdom and Luck”, in Life, volume 61, number 22, page 13:
      Secondly, it was a miracle that a document hammered out with such difficulty, satisfying very few of its authors completely and satisfying some of them very little, would turn out to be the most successful political invention in history.
    • 1993, Hatch N. Gardner, Frank H. Winter, P-51 Mustang, Turner Publishing Company, page 78:
      It was a miracle that I survived that ditching in the high waves because I had my seat belt and shoulder harness unbuckled in anticipation of bailing out.
    • 2003, Eric Lionel Jones, The European miracle: environments, economies, and geopolitics in the history of Europe and Asia, Cambridge University Press, page 218:
      Seen in this light it was a miracle of economic history that Europe was able to undertake so much higher a proportion of its expansion overseas, and secure a massive injection of resources and big markets without a commensurate growth in her numbers.
  3. An awesome and exceptional example of something
    • 1847, Honoré de Balzac, Scenes from a Courtesan's Life, page 323:
      The home of our kings, over which you tread as you pace the immense hall known as the Salle des Pas-Perdus, was a miracle of architecture.
    • 2008, Joseph R. Conlin, The American Past: A Survey of American History, Cengage Learning, page 670:
      It was a miracle of engineering that made possible, with the cheap electricity the dam generated, another kind of miracle: the bizarre, superilluminated city of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Derived terms

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Terms derived from miracle

Translations

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Verb

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miracle (third-person singular simple present miracles, present participle miracling, simple past and past participle miracled)

  1. (transitive) To affect by a miracle; to work a miracle upon.
    • 1925, The Medical Critic and Guide, volume 25, page 103:
      When a patient declares that he has been "miracled," the other pilgrims are apt to rush to him (or her) and ask details; this is not permitted; the miracled invalid is borne or carted away to the Bureau of Medical Certification […]
    • 1998, Gary Genosko, Undisciplined Theory, page 117:
      Deleuze and Guattari are right in miracling fleas into the bestiary, but it is already rich enough to do without them.
    • 2001, Susann Cokal, Mirabilis, page 33:
      They think I've miracled the dogs, as the Eucharist miracled my mother. That I, Bonne, am pulsing with holy spirit.

Anagrams

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Catalan

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin mīrāculum. Doublet of mirall, which was inherited.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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miracle m (plural miracles)

  1. miracle
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Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old French miracle, borrowed from Latin mīrāculum. Compare the inherited Old French mirail (“mirror”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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miracle m (plural miracles)

  1. miracle

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Old French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin mīrāculum (“object of wonder”) (compare inherited mirail (“mirror”)), from mīror (“to wonder at”), from mīrus (“wonderful”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meyh₂- (“to smile, to be astonished”).

Noun

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miracle oblique singular, m (oblique plural miracles, nominative singular miracles, nominative plural miracle)

  1. miracle

Descendants

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  • → English: miracle
  • French: miracle
  • Norman: mithacl'ye
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