Barmecidal

Bar·me·cid·al

 (bär′mĭ-sīd′l) also Bar·me·cide (bär′mĭ-sīd′)

adj.

Plentiful or abundant in appearance only; illusory: a Barmecidal feast.

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[After Barmecide, , a nobleman in The Arabian Nights, who served an imaginary feast to a beggar.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Bar•me•cid•al

(ˌbɑr məˈsaɪd l)

also Bar′me•cide`,

adj.

giving only the illusion of plenty; illusory: a Barmecidal banquet.

[1835–45; alluding to the Barmecides, a noble family in The Arabian Nights who served a feast with empty dishes to a beggar (< Persian Barmekī family name, literally, offspring of Barmek, with -ide -id¹ for Persian -ī)]

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