Wizard

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈwɪz.əd/

Definitions

1. A person who practices magic or possesses supernatural powers, often depicted as wise and wearing robes
2. A person skilled in or practicing magic and enchantment, or someone exceptionally talented and skilled at something
3. Someone possessing magical abilities or extraordinary expertise and mastery in a particular field

Etymology: The word "wizard" is built from "wise" and the suffix "-ard," so its core meaning was simply a wise person. The "-ard" ending, which turns an adjective into a noun for someone characterized by that quality, shows up in words like "drunkard" and "coward." Middle English "wysard" and "wysarde" appeared in English with this sense of wisdom, and the word did not narrow to magic for a long time. Its sense of a magic practitioner took shape only around the 1500s, roughly when the English Renaissance was getting under way. Before that, a "wise" man could be a philosopher or sage without any suggestion of spells, and the magical sense grew out of that older meaning rather than replacing it. The word has no exact matches in other Germanic languages, which makes it a distinctly English development. Its root shares a Proto-Indo-European origin with "druid" and with Slavic words such as Russian "ведьма" (witch), so the broader family of words for knowing and seeing carries a similar pattern of wisdom turning into magical power.

Synonyms: sorcerer, magician, enchanter, conjurer, spellcaster