Genie (noun) from French génie, from  Arabic jinni, singular of jinn

: A spirit of Arabian folklore, as traditionally depicted imprisoned within a bottle or oil lamp, and capable of granting wishes when summoned., 

_____________________________________________________

Genie is a supernatural creature in early pre-Islamic Arabian and later Islamic myth-ology and theology dating back to 2400 BC.  Jinn are not a strictly Islamic concept; rather, they may be various pagan beings integrated into Islam from other religions during its expansion. In ancient Rome, the term genii, the plural form of the Latin word genius, referred to the spirits that watched over every man. The genius was responsible for forming a man’s character and caused all actions.

     Believed to be present at birth, genius came to be thought of as great inborn ability. Women had a similar spirit known as a juno. Some Romans also believed in a spirit, called an evil genius, that fought the good genius for control of a man’s fate. In later Roman mythology, genii were spirits who guarded the household or community.

     According to the Qur’an, God created jinn out of the “fire of a scorching wind” and they are much more than demons or spirits. They’re intelligent, free-willed creatures who live close to nature and are endowed with magical powers. Some of them are good, some are evil, and others somewhere in-between.

     Besides the jinn, Islam acknowledges the existence of demons (Shayatin). The line between demons and jinn is blurred, since malevolent jinn are also called shayatin. However both Islam and non-Islamic scholarship generally distinguishes between angels, jinn and demons (shayatin) as three different types of spiritual entities in Islamic traditions. The jinn are distinguished from demons, in that they can be evil or good, while genuine demons are steeped in evil.

     Genies are best known for their appearancewith Aladdin in The Thousand and One Nights. (interestingly enough, the name Aladdin means genie of God). With Aladdin came a serious genie/bottle connection that is likely the reason modern genies are always trapped inside them. Before that, though, Arabian Nights did manage to connect the two. For example, The Story of the City of Brass follows a group of travelers searching the Sahara to find a lost city. Of brass. Their side-quest is to locate a vessel that supposedly held a jinni imprisoned by King Solomon. The life of Solomon and his God-given jinn-controlling ring is a fascinating topic on its own, but this seems to be the legend that first started shoving genies into small containers.

.