Definition of "jinni" []

• In Muslim legend, a spirit often capable of assuming human or animal form and exercising supernatural influence over people. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I comforted myself with the thought, rubbing the ring in the darkness, as though it contained a jinni that could advise me."
• "Shahrazad gets to the end of the story of the merchant and the jinni on the third night of her marriage: The tales of the three old men are so marvelous that the jinni (setting a good ­example for King Shahriyar) sets the merchant free."
• "She told him the tale of a wealthy merchant who was taken captive by a vengeful jinni and condemned to die."