prestige [M17th] The early meaning of this word was ‘an illusion or conjuring trick’ or prestidigitation [M19th]. Prestige came into English in the mid 17th century, borrowed from a French word meaning ‘illusion, glamour’ which came from Latin praestigium ‘illusion’. The modern meaning, ‘widespread respect and admiration’, developed by way of the sense ‘dazzling influence, glamour’. The related adjective prestigious [M16th] is an older word which originally described the skilful use of your hands when performing conjuring tricks. It only came to mean ‘inspiring admiration’ in the early 20th century. Magicians often say hey presto! to announce the climax of a trick. Presto is borrowed from Italian, in which it means ‘quick or quickly’, and comes ultimately from Latin praestus, ‘ready’. Presto, be gone seems to have been a common feature of the patter of 17th-century conjurors and jugglers, and hey presto became popular in the following century.