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

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪˈl(j)uːʒ(ə)n/
• (General American) enPR: ĭ-lo͞o'zhən, IPA^(key): [ɪˈluː.ʒən]
• (Conservative RP) 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.

Synonyms

• (that seems to be something it is not): mirage, phantom
• (a belief in something untrue; the state of being misled): delusion
• (a belief in something untrue): misapprehension, misbelief, misconception

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

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

• Czech: iluze (cs) f
• Danish: illusion c
• Dutch: illusie (nl) f, zinsbegoocheling (nl) f
• Esperanto: iluzio
• Estonian: näiline
• Finnish: illuusio (fi), havaintoharha, harha (fi), harhanäky, näköharha (fi)
• French: illusion (fr) f
• Georgian: ილუზია (iluzia)
• German: Illusion (de) f, Wahnvorstellung (de) f, Sinnestäuschung f
• Greek: ψευδαίσθηση (el) f (psevdaísthisi)
• 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)

• Korean: 환각(幻覺) (ko) (hwan'gak), 환상 (ko) (hwansang)
• Latvian: acu māns m
• Ligurian: illüziùn
• Lithuanian: iliuzija f
• Maltese: illużjoni
• Maori: pohewa, whakahewa
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: illusjon m

  Nynorsk: illusjon m

• Persian: وهم‎ (fa) (vahm)
• Polish: złudzenie (pl) n, iluzja (pl) f, ułuda
• Portuguese: ilusão (pt) f
• Romanian: iluzie (ro) f
• Russian: иллю́зия (ru) f (illjúzija), наважде́ние (ru) n (navaždénije)
• Sanskrit: माया (sa) f (māyā)
• 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 (th) (paa pluang dtaa)
• Turkish: yanılsama (tr), yanılgı (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 (zh), 幻觉 (zh) (huànjué)

• Danish: illusion c
• Dutch: illusie (nl) f
• Finnish: harhakuvitelma (fi), harhaluulo (fi), harha (fi), harhausko
• Georgian: ილუზია (iluzia)
• German: Illusion (de) f
• Greek: ψευδαίσθηση (el) f (psevdaísthisi), πλάνη (el) f (pláni)

• 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)

• 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: villförsyn f

state of being misled or deceived

• Russian: иллю́зия (ru) f (illjúzija)

• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} illusion (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} tálvon (is) f

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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

Further reading

• “illusion” in Den Danske Ordbog

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin illusionem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i.ly.zjɔ̃/

• Audio (France, Paris)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔ̃
• Homophone: illusions

Noun

illusion f (plural illusions)

1. illusion

Derived terms

• illusion d'optique

Related terms

• illusoire
• illusoirement

Descendants

• → Danish: illusion

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