🧵 View Thread
🧵 Thread (18 tweets)
1. "wizard" is pretty straightforward: "wise-ard", like a drunkard or a dullard. a wizard is someone who is wise. neato https://t.co/kJlbedx2Up https://t.co/BArwkf7dn3
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" https://t.co/A1KWIIeOKQ https://t.co/LzbMJoOcsg
3. "sorcerer" apparently derives from a root meaning "oracular response" which further derives from a root meaning "to sort"! hmmmmmm https://t.co/wgmGqg2BR4 https://t.co/P4MhUoEb20
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!!! https://t.co/OJIPRXhGrs
5. "enchanter" - derives from a root meaning "to sing; to consecrate with spells" which i love, wow. an incantation is a *holy song*! https://t.co/xjWyFFY5A6 https://t.co/etb2UMB5v9
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 https://t.co/mCU9fixQue https://t.co/aHLtXAs9BR
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 😂 https://t.co/45oRkBhYJK https://t.co/dsTrvv6zgf https://t.co/eFgpb1nzMP
8. "druid" - oh fuck this one is so good. "oak-knower"!!! fuck!!! can an etymology slap? this etymology slaps https://t.co/Qe4dq474Oe https://t.co/6yAdLWipHx
9. "thaumaturge" - surprisingly straightforward, "miracle worker" https://t.co/4zf4MiDLdJ https://t.co/5ZtVodHuAz
10. "necromancer" - "necro" means dead, pretty straightforward, the interesting thing is that "-mancy" means divination! https://t.co/2hnQjvYa3U https://t.co/8KnbxrI998
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? https://t.co/0FNNU3B6Un https://t.co/tg6Mp2LHAA
