wizard
wi·zard
noun
adjective
possessing or using or characteristic of or appropriate to supernatural powers
- “charming incantations”
- “magic signs that protect against adverse influence”
- “a magical spell”
- “tis now the very witching time of night” Shakespeare
- “wizard wands”
- “wizardly powers”
Origin
From Middle English wysard, wysarde, equivalent to wise + -ard. A uniquely medieval English word with no known morphologically exact cognates in other Germanic languages; did not gain distinct sense of "occultist, magic user" (as opposed to a philosopher or sage) until circa 1500s, aligning roughly with the starting English Renaissance. However, via Proto-Indo-European *weyd- cognate with Proto-Celtic *druwits (whence English druid), Proto-Slavic *vědьma (Polish wiedźma, Russian ве́дьма (védʹma)), Russian веду́н (vedún). The sense of "old (male) virgin" is from a Japanese Internet meme in which virgins who are typically friendless, shy outcasts and loners who don't fit in anywhere legendarily gain magical powers upon reaching 30 years of age; popularized ultimately by 4chan and adjacent online incel spaces. Compare typologically specialist (<< Latin speciō).
Phrases
- grand wizard
- hedge wizard
- white wizard
- Wizard Book
- wizard hat
- wizard mode
- wizard rock
Related words
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.