/mag"nit/ , n.
1. a body, as a piece of iron or steel, that possesses the property of attracting certain substances, as iron.
2. a lodestone.
3. a thing or person that attracts: The park was a magnet for pickpockets and muggers.
[ 1400-50; late ME magnete magneta mágneta, acc. of mágnes, short for ( he ) Mágnes ( líthos ) (the stone) of Magnesia ]