Female version of wizard
Hello friends. We are back with a historical but superfluous subject in solsarin. This is about “Female version of wizard”. Please comment at the end of the text.
White witches in Britain and Europe
Traditionally, the terms “witch” and “witchcraft” had negative connotations. Most societies that have believed in harmful witchcraft or ‘black’ magic have also believed in helpful or ‘white’ magic. In these societies, practitioners of helpful magic provided services such as breaking the effects of witchcraft, healing, divination, finding lost or stolen goods, and love magic. In Britain they were commonly known as cunning folk or wise people. Alan McFarlane writes, “There were a number of interchangeable terms for these practitioners, ‘white’, ‘good‘, or ‘unbinding’ witches, blessers, wizards, sorcerers, however ‘cunning-man’ and ‘wise-man’ were the most frequent”. Ronald Hutton prefers the term “service magicians”. Often these people were involved in identifying alleged witches.
Hostile churchmen sometimes branded any magic-workers “witches” as a way of smearing them. Englishman Reginald Scot, who sought to disprove witchcraft and magic, wrote in The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), “At this day it is indifferent to say in the English tongue, ‘she is a witch’ or ‘she is a wise woman'”. Folk magicians throughout Europe were often viewed ambivalently by communities, and were considered as capable of harming as of healing, which could lead to their being accused as “witches” in the negative sense.
Many English “witches” convicted of consorting with demons may have been cunning folk whose supposed fairy familiars had been demonised; many French devins-guerisseurs (“diviner-healers”) were accused of witchcraft, and over half the accused witches in Hungary seem to have been healers. Hutton (2017), however, says that “Service magicians were sometimes denounced as witches, but seem to have made up a minority of the accused in any area studied”. Some of those who described themselves as contacting fairies described out-of-body experiences and travelling through the realms of an “other-world”.
Witchcraft
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have attacked their own community, and often to have communed with evil beings. It was thought witchcraft could be thwarted by protective magic or counter-magic, which could be provided by cunning folk or folk healers. Suspected witches were also intimidated, banished, attacked or killed. Often they would be formally prosecuted and punished, if found guilty or simply believed to be guilty. European witch-hunts and witch trials in the early modern period led to tens of thousands of executions. Although some folk healers were accused of witchcraft, they made up a minority of those accused. European belief in witchcraft gradually dwindled during and after the Age of Enlightenment.
Female Wizards: Here’s How To Refer To Them
Some languages, like Welsh and French, have different feminine and masculine words for professions and other words describing people.
English is inconsistent with this practice, sometimes making it difficult to tell what the right word is to use when referring to someone who does a specific profession or task. Sometimes, things are made even more complicated by historical usage and popular culture. The word “wizard” is a great example.
Why are female wizards called “witches”?
I was looking up these two words in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English: It’s mentioned in the Word Origin section that Wizard comes from “Wise”, while for “Witch” it totally has a negative meaning, and all in all, apart from this definition, witch is usually negative, while wizard is neutral (or even positive sometimes?!). Isn’t this somewhat sexist?
Both words imply the same occupation, where the female version is negative and the male one is just neutral or even positive. Is it only bad if a woman does it?!
I have actually seen witch used in a male sense as well.
If we look at etymonline, it gives the following definitions:
Witch
Old English wicce “female magician, sorceress,” in later use especially “a woman supposed to have dealings with the devil or evil spirits and to be able by their cooperation to perform supernatural acts,” fem. of Old English wicca “sorcerer, wizard, man who practices witchcraft or magic,” from verb wiccian “to practice witchcraft” (compare Low German wikken, wicken “to use witchcraft,” wikker, wicker “soothsayer”).
Wizard
early 15c., “philosopher, sage,” from Middle English wys “wise” (see wise (adj.)) + -ard. Compare Lithuanian zynyste “magic,” zynys “sorcerer,” zyne “witch,” all from zinoti “to know.” The ground sense is perhaps “to know the future.” The meaning “one with magical power, one proficient in the occult sciences” did not emerge distinctly until c.1550, the distinction between philosophy and magic being blurred in the Middle Ages. As a slang word meaning “excellent” it is recorded from 1922.
There seems to have been, based on the assumed origins, a difference between “good magic” linked to knowledge and wisdom for wizard, and “bad magic” linked to “heathen practices”.
It seems far-fetched to actually take wizard simply as a male version of witch and vice-versa. The etymonline entry for witch, as well as the OED (thank you Peter Shor) show that the male version of wicce was wicca. They were people involved in witchcraft, magic — supernatural things, rather than wisdom (wizard).
They seem to denote similar but different occupations, one of which became mainly associated with man, the other with women.
About the negative connotations that surround the “female” version… yes, that is sexist. And this is a very common occurrence in (many) language(s). Even though (and I am glad) this is often frowned upon by many people nowadays, and many speakers tend to avoid making distinctions between male and female practitioners of the same profession, in the past it was very common to see a clear (quality) distinction between the male and female versions.
What is the word for a female wizard?
Dictionaries provide several options for female wizards. Wizardess and sorceress are the most common, although some dictionaries note that the word “wizard” can also be used to refer to women. In early modern Europe and America, the word “wizard” (or “warlock”) was used to refer to a man who practiced witchcraft, making the female equivalent of a wizard a witch. Fantasy novels, movies, games and other forms of popular culture are likely to follow their own rules, so it’s important to know the context before selecting the correct word.
What is the definition of “wizard”?
Before we look at what to call a female wizard, let’s start with a solid understanding of the word “wizard” itself.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED), an authoritative source of English word meanings, defines a wizard as “a man who is skilled in occult arts” or “a man who practices witchcraft.”
Other dictionaries give slightly different definitions, but the maleness of the word “wizard” is either assumed or suggested in most of them. Wiktionary, a crowd-sourced dictionary, says that a wizard is “someone, usually male, who uses (or has skill with) magic … and mystical practices.”
The word’s etymology provides interesting reasons for why it is typically male. According to the OED, “Wizard” is derived from Middle English wysard or wyseard, a combination of “wise” and the Old French suffix -ard, which was used as a “masculine formative” to suggest someone who does something to excess. This is perhaps why wizards are typically thought of as men.
However, some dictionaries do not mention gender or sex at all.
Merriam-Webster, for example, defines a wizard as “one skilled in magic,” and the related word sorcerer as “a person who practices sorcery.”
Similarly, a footnote on the OED definition notes that the word can be “occasionally applied to a woman.”
Regardless of these more inclusive definitions, it goes without saying that the stereotypical image of a wizard is that of a man.
What Is A Female Wizard Called? Learn The 4 Most Common Words
What is a female wizard called?
4 ideas of what to call a female wizard.
1. Wizard.
With plumbers, bakers, and bus drivers we don’t call them a different name if they’re women. So why should wizards be any different?
2. Wizardess
Not the most common term. But it could be used.
3. Sorceress
This one works if you think that “wizard” and “sorcerer” are interchangeable.
4. Witch
Generally speaking females with magic are called witches. But some would say this is unfair as “witch” has a negative connotation.
A female wizard is not a witch
Let’s assume for one minute that the people who believe a witch is not a female wizard are correct. What exactly is the difference between a female wizard and a witch?
A witch is evil. She uses her spells to cause havoc and chaos. However, a wizard is wise and would only use his magic for good.
