Wizardries

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Skills or practices associated with sorcery or magic
2. acts that demonstrate remarkable abilities in a specific area, often leading to extraordinary outcomes
3. the use of cunning techniques to achieve seemingly impossible results in various fields

Etymology: "Wizardries" is the plural of "wizardry," which is formed by adding the suffix "-ry" to "wizard." The suffix has a long lineage of its own: it descends through Middle English "-rie" and Old French "-erie" from Latin roots that carried the sense of a practice, trade or quality, so that "-ry" words name an activity or the art of doing something. Attaching it to "wizard" produces a noun for the craft or skill of a wizard. Most of the word's history therefore lies in the base. "Wizard" itself was formed in English from "wise" with an agent suffix, so the word was originally a label for a person of wisdom and learning before it came to mean a practitioner of magic. Adding "-ry" then turned that person-noun into a name for the cunning and trickery associated with them, which is why the modern sense stretches from literal sorcery to any feat of clever technique that seems almost magical.

Synonyms: sorcery, magic, enchantments