Wic

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term associated with a practitioner of witchcraft or magic, often used in a historical context to denote a healer or wise person
2. Referring to a figure in folklore who engages in sorcery, typically connected with nature-based spirituality
3. In modern usage, it may describe someone involved with neopagan or spiritual practices that embrace ancient traditions and rituals

Etymology: "Wic" is not an established English noun for a pagan practitioner, and standard references do not record it in that sense. Its closest relatives have a long history. Old English had "wicca," a male sorcerer or magic-worker, and "wicce," a female one, both related to the verb "wiccian," to practise magic. English "witch" descends from the feminine form, and the masculine "wicca" faded out of use over the centuries. The modern religious sense is much later. "Wicca" was used as the name of a neopagan religion in the 1950s, largely through the writings of Gerald Gardner, who presented it as a surviving pre-Christian tradition. Historians have found little evidence for that claim, so the religion is generally understood as a twentieth-century creation that borrowed the old word for its name.

Synonyms: witchcraft, paganism