Genius

(jë'ne-us,) Eng. pl. GENIUSES; L. GENII. [L. from gig no, I bring forth.] (Myth.) Among Eastern peoples, the name given to a supposed me diary race of beings-half human, half divine-but inferior to either, and hence not considered objects of worship. They comprised the djinns, a kind of familiar spirits haunting the sorts of men, like the elves of more modern fable; the ghouls, evil spirits, who devoured entombed bodies; and the peris, corresponding with the fairies of modern superstition.- Among the Romans, every person had his own genius, that is a spiritual being, which introduced him into life, accompanied him during the course of it, and again conducted him out of it at the close of his career. [s. 400]