fata morgana | (n) a mirage in the Strait of Messina (attributed to the Arthurian sorcerer Morgan le Fay) |
Fata Morgana | ‖ [ It.; -- so called because this phenomenon was looked upon as the work of a fairy (It. fata) of the name of Morgána. See Fairy. ] A kind of mirage by which distant objects appear inverted, distorted, displaced, or multiplied. It is noticed particularly at the Straits of Messina, between Calabria and Sicily. [ 1913 Webster ] |