Dictionary entry

Miracle

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Mir″a‐cle (?), n. [F., fr. L. miraculum, fr. mirari to wonder. See Marvel, and cf. Mirror.]

1. A wonder or wonderful thing.

That miracle and queen of genus. Shak.

2. Specifically: An event or effect contrary to the established constitution and course of things, or a deviation from the known laws of nature; a supernatural event, or one transcending the ordinary laws by which the universe is governed.

They considered not the miracle of the loaves. Mark vi. 52.

3. A miracle play.

4. A story or legend abounding in miracles.

When said was all this miracle. Chaucer.

Miracle monger, an impostor who pretends to work miracles. — Miracle play, one of the old dramatic entertainments founded on legends of saints and martyrs or (see 2d Mystery, 2) on events related in the Bible.