Phrase guide

magic square

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A palindromic square word arrangement, usually in the form of a magic amulet.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: games

Examples

  • Probably the best-known magic square is the 5×5 square consisting of the words ROTAS OPERA TENET AREPO SATOR.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers such that the numbers in each row, in each column and along both diagonals all have the same sum.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: mathematics, number-theory, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a square matrix of n rows and columns; the first n^2 integers are arranged in the cells of the matrix in such a way that the sum of any row or column or diagonal is the same

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: square matrix

History

Etymology

As magical square by 1670 and magic square by 1701 (see Citations). Calque of French quarré magique or Latin quadratum magicum. Magic refers to its original function as a talisman.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: sehrli kvadrat — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Bengali: জাদু বর্গ (jadu borgo) — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Catalan: àbac màgic — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Catalan: quadrat màgic — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Chinese Mandarin: 幻方 (huànfāng) — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Finnish: taikaneliö — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • French: carré magique — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • German: magisches Quadrat — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Hungarian: bűvös négyzet — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Indonesian: persegi ajaib — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Japanese: 魔方陣 (mahōjin) — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Korean: 마방진 (mabangjin) — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Malayalam: മാന്ത്രിക ചതുരം (māntrika caturaṁ) — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Persian: مربع جادویی — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Portuguese: quadrado mágico — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Romanian: pătrat magic — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Russian: маги́ческий квадра́т (magíčeskij kvadrát) — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Spanish: cuadrado mágico — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Tamil: மாயச் சதுரம் (māyac caturam) — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Telugu: మాయా చతురస్రం (māyā caturasraṁ) — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Thai: จัตุรัสกล — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Turkish: sihirli kare — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Uzbek: sehrli kvadrat — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers
  • Vietnamese: ma trận kì ảo — n-by-n arrangement of n2 numbers