mag.ic (maj’ik) n. [<OFr. <L. <Gr. < magikos, of the MAGI] 1.  the use of charms, spells, etc. In seeking or pretending to make things happen in an unnatural way. 2. any power or influence that seems mysterious or hard to explain [the magic of love] 3.  the art of producing illusions as an entertainment by sleight of hand, trick devices, etc. —adj.  1. of, produced by, or using magic 2. producing extraordinary results, as if by magic [ his magic playing of the violin]

Ma.gi (mā’ji) n.pl, sing. Ma’gus (-gəs) [L., pl. of magus < Gr. Per. Magus: for IE. base see MAY] 1. priests of ancient Media and Persia 2. Douay Bible the wise men from the East who brought gifts to the infant Jesus: Matt. 2:1-13 –Ma’gi-an (-jē ən) adj., n.

mag.ic (connotative definitions)
1. “Literature is dangerous, it is a kind of magic.” (Iris Murdoch)
2. “…contains an ‘irreducible element’…, something we cannot explain according to the laws of the universe as we know them.” (Wendy B. Faris; the phrase “irreducible element” is said to be taken from Young and Hallaman’s Magical Realist Fiction)
3. “I also like preparing for the change of seasons. For example, that maniacal flurry of tidying and organizing we refer to as “spring cleaning” some how seems to tug the warm weather a little close. House magic is what I call it.” (Diane Ackerman)
4. “When mandrake is dug from the earth, it should be placed in a spring immediately, for a day and a night, so that every evil and contrary humor is expelled from it, and it has no more power for magic and phantasms. But if it is pulled from the earth, and set aside with earth sticking to it, and not cleansed in the spring water, it is harmful for many injurious acts of magic and for delusions, just as many evils were at one time done with idols.” (Hildegard von Bingen)
5. “Magic often lurks where few suspect it, and, by the opposite token, that magic seldom lurks where many suspect it.” (Douglas R. Horstadter)

mag.ic (travelling definitions)
1. Magic is often thought of as the intentional use of natural energy to accomplish some specific goal.
2. Consequently, magic is usually practiced with the intent of bringing the world into line with the practitioner’s desire.
3. Yes. But. As magical training proceeds, magic becomes the practice of utilizing radical empathy to meet specific goals.
4. In my experience, because of the consequences of the development of radical empathy, the dedicated practice of magic actually ends up bringing the practitioner in line with the world.

Definitions for “magic” and “magi” from: New World Dictionary of the American Language Students Edition Prentice-Hall. David B. Guralnik, Editor in Chief. Published in 1981 by Simon & Schuster.