Fata Morgana
Preserved but no longer current.
A sort of mirage in which objects are reflected in the sea, and sometimes on a kind of aerial screen high above it, occasionally seen in the neighbourhood of the Straits of Messina, so named from Morgan le Fay (<?.y.) who was fabled by the Norman settlers in England to dwell in Calabria.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Fata Morgana” mean?
A sort of mirage in which objects are reflected in the sea, and sometimes on a kind of aerial screen high above it, occasionally seen in the neighbourhood of the Straits of Messina, so named from Morgan le Fay (<?.y.) who was fabled by the Norman settlers in England to dwell in Calabria.
Is “Fata Morgana” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.