Warlock

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈwɔː.lɒk/

Definitions

1. A male practitioner of witchcraft or sorcery, often depicted in folklore as having made a pact with supernatural forces to gain magical powers
2. A man who practices magic or sorcery, typically portrayed as having gained supernatural abilities through a dark covenant
3. A male sorcerer or practitioner of the occult arts, traditionally depicted as wielding magical powers granted by demonic or supernatural agreement

Etymology: Originally, "warlock" meant a traitor. Its Old English ancestor, "wǣrloga", meant "traitor" or "deceiver", and its literal sense was "truce-breaker", from "wǣr" (covenant, pact, promise) and "loga" (liar). The second element is related to the verb that gave English "lie". Old Saxon had a close cognate, "wārlogo", meaning "liar" or "unfaithful one". The sense of a male magic-user came much later and seems to have grown from the idea that such men had sworn their baptismal vows to Christianity and then betrayed them by making a pact with the Devil. The hard "-ck" ending appears in Scottish and Northern English, and the magical meaning is tied to that region. A few writers have proposed a link to Old Norse "varðlokkur", meaning "incantations" or "charms", but the Norse word is so rare, and its forms lack the hard "-k" that the Old English line shows earlier, that this derivation is generally rejected.

Synonyms: sorcerer, wizard, magician

Antonyms: muggle