1. "wizard" is pretty straightforward: "wise-ard", like a drunkard or a dullard. a wizard is someone who is wise. neato
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wizard
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2. "magician" obviously derives from "magic" and so does "magus". "magic" is itself pretty interesting: wiktionary says the likely root means "to be able to, to help; power"
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/magic
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3. "sorcerer" apparently derives from a root meaning "oracular response" which further derives from a root meaning "to sort"! hmmmmmm
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sorcerer
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4. "warlock" - this one is *super* interesting to me. apparently it means "traitor" or "truce-breaker"! a warlock is a traitor to (the christian) god!!!
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5. "enchanter" - derives from a root meaning "to sing; to consecrate with spells" which i love, wow. an incantation is a *holy song*!
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/enchanter
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6. "conjurer" - the root of "conjure" is "to swear together; conspire", i guess because a conjurer is someone who summons and conspires with demons and so forth? sweet
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/conjure
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7. "spellcaster" (not really gendered but w/e) - the root of "spell" means "story" and the root of "cast" means "to throw". a spellcaster is someone who throws stories 😂
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spell
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cast
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8. "druid" - oh fuck this one is so good. "oak-knower"!!! fuck!!! can an etymology slap? this etymology slaps
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/druid
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9. "thaumaturge" - surprisingly straightforward, "miracle worker"
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thaumatur
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10. "necromancer" - "necro" means dead, pretty straightforward, the interesting thing is that "-mancy" means divination!
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-mancy
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11. for completeness let's also investigate "witch" - derived from the female form of a word for male (or gender-neutral?) magic-user that we don't use the male form of anymore, "further etymology uncertain" but maybe something to do with divination?
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/witch
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the etymologies suggest different conceptions of magic in a way that really tickles me. magic is: wisdom, power, betraying god, divination, holy song, consorting with demons, storytelling, knowing the trees, working miracles
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I really liked this thread, so I went to see if other words (in other languages) have the same implications
12. Brujo (male witch in spanish, sometimes translates for warlock). Etymology is disputed, seems iberian or celt. Some say it comes from the same celtic root as "brew"
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13. Hechicero (mostly translated as sorcerer I think). Comes from hechizo (spell) and from the latin facere, "to make". So hechizero means maker which is really cool.
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