A sorcerer, one who by his profession of magic aggrandised himself at the expense of the people of Samaria, and who, when he saw the miracles wrought by the Apostles, and St. Peter in particular, offered them money to confer the like power on himself; Peter's well-known answer was not without effect on him, but it was only temporary, for he afterwards appeared in Rome and continued to impose upon the people so as to persuade them to believe him as an incarnation of the Most High. Hence Simony, the sin of making gain by the buying or selling of spiritual privileges for one's material profit.