allusion
noun
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What is the word origin of allusion?
Allusion was borrowed into English in the 16th century. It derives from the Latin verb alludere, meaning "to play with," "to jest," or "to refer to," as does its cousin allude, meaning "to make indirect reference" or "to refer." Alludere, in turn, derives from a combination of the prefix ad- ("to or toward") and ludere ("to play"). Ludere is a Latin word that English speakers have enjoyed playing with over the years, creating collude, delude, elude, and prelude, just to name a few.
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Allusion and Illusion
Allusion and illusion may share some portion of their ancestry (both words come in part from the Latin word ludere, meaning “to play”), and sound quite similar, but they are distinct words with very different meanings. An allusion is an indirect reference, whereas an illusion is something that is unreal or incorrect. Each of the nouns has a related verb form: allude “to refer indirectly to,” and illude (not a very common word), which may mean “to delude or deceive” or “to subject to an illusion.”
Examples of allusion in a Sentence
Tony Tanner, New York Times Book Review, 6 Apr. 1997
So while the former engineering professor with an IQ reportedly tipping 180 enjoys bombarding his staff with math wizardry, scientific jargon and computerese, he also drops frequent allusions to his baseball card and stamp collections …
—Maureen Dowd, New York Times Magazine, 16 Sept. 1990
To my ear this is a beautiful reenactment of the prose of the antebellum South, with its careful grammar, its stately cadences, and its classical allusions and quotations.
—Cleanth Brooks, The Language of the American South, 1985
The lyrics contain biblical allusions.
She made allusion to her first marriage.
Hazlitt, 10 Apr. 2024
The allusions, and development of minor characters, could stand trimming.
—Celia Wren, Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for allusion 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'allusion.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Allusion.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/allusion. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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allusion
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on allusion
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for allusion
Nglish: Translation of allusion for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of allusion for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about allusion
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