ignis fatuus: Meaning and Definition of

ig•nis fat•u•us

Pronunciation: (ig'nis fach'-us), [key]
— pl. ig•nes fat•u•i
  1. a flitting phosphorescent light seen at night, chiefly over marshy ground, and believed to be due to spontaneous combustion of gas from decomposed organic matter.
  2. something deluding or misleading.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.