Home › Glossary › Letter G

genii

Mythology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Spirits or supernatural beings, especially in classical or romantic writing.

Detailed Definition
In older literary English, genii are not the same as modern “geniuses”; they are spirit-beings or guardian powers. Shelley uses the word in a supernatural sense alongside “spirits” and “ghosts,” giving the scene a dreamy, enchanted atmosphere.
Example
Example in poetry:
Genii is the plural of genius or genie, referring in older usage to tutelary spirits or supernatural beings; “There are spirits of the air, / And genii of the evening breeze” gives the word an airy, Romantic atmosphere; In Arabian Nights–influenced poetry, a genii may be a powerful wish-granting being, though this differs from the Roman household spirit; “The city’s genii kept watch above the subway vents” adapts the mythic term to contemporary urban imagination
Additional Notes
The word “genii” in the quoted line is a specialized literary/mythological term, not the everyday modern word “genius.”; Found in the poem, O! there are spirits of the air by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Also Known As
spirits guardians supernatural beings
Skip to main content