legerdemain

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legerdemain

/ˌlɛd͡ʒ.ə.dɨˈmeɪn/ UK
/ˈlɛd͡ʒ.əɹ.dəˌmeɪn/ US

Rhymes with -eɪn

Where it comes from

From Middle English legerdemeyn, lechardemane, from Old French léger de main (literally “light of hand”), a phrase that meant “dexterous, skillful at fooling others (especially through sleights of hand)”, which was however treated as a noun when it was borrowed by late Middle English. The Modern French descendant léger de main of the Old French phrase is archaic but still sometimes found in older literature and simply means “skillful” without any connotation of sleight of hand.

noun legerdemains

uncountable, usually Sleight of hand; "magic" trickery. For he in slights and jugling feates did flow, / And of legierdemayne the mysteries did know.
Similar: prestidigitation, sleight of hand, conjuration, conjuring, dweomercraft, hocus-pocus, illusionism, jugglery, legerdemain, magic, palmistry, prestigiation
broadly, uncountable, usually A show of skill or deceitful ability. Certainly, that they are to this day so rife in Italy and Spain, and so scant in Britain, is a shrewd ground to apprehend Legerdemain, and forgery, in the accounts we get of their later Saints.
Similar: jugglery, sleight of hand, deception, imposition, hype, deceit, dupery, fiddle, fetch, hocus-pocus, legerdemain, list

Translations

Every language

noun sleight of hand

Español	escamoteo, prestidigitación
Русский	ло́вкость рук lóvkostʹ ruk

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MLA

"legerdemain." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/legerdemain. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

legerdemain. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/legerdemain

Chicago

"legerdemain." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/legerdemain.

BibTeX

@misc{legerdemain_2026,
  title = {legerdemain},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/legerdemain},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}