Wizard Meaning

/ˈwɪz.əːd/
A2

Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Listen pronunciation

nounSomeone, usually male, who uses (or has skill with) magic, mystic items, and magical and mystical practices.

nounOne who is especially skilled or unusually talented in a particular field.

So, was there a time when you were a wizard, too?
The wizard waved his magic wand and disappeared into thin air.
The young wizard learned how to cast spells at school.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the fantasy story, the old ____ used magic to defeat the dark forces.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In the story, the powerful ____ uses his magic to protect the kingdom from several many dark and evil forces today.

From Middle English wysard, wysarde, equivalent to wise + -ard. A uniquely medieval Anglo-Saxon word with no known morphologically exact cognates inside the Germanic family; did not gain distinct sense of "occultist, magic user" (as opposed to a philosopher or sage) until circa 1500s, aligning roughly with the starting English Renaissance. However, via Proto-Indo-European *weyd- cognate with Proto-Celtic *druwits (whence English druid), Proto-Slavic *vědьma (Polish wiedźma, Russian ве́дьма (védʹma)), Russian веду́н (vedún). The sense of "old (male) virgin" is from a Japanese Internet meme in which virgins who are typically friendless, shy outcasts and loners who don't fit in anywhere legendarily gain magical powers upon reaching 30 years of age; popularized ultimately by 4chan and adjacent online incel spaces. Compare typologically specialist (<< Latin speciō).

"The wily wizard must be caught." — 1697, John Dryden, Translation of Virgil's Georgics:
"He found himself watching a couple of wizards doing what he at first mistook for the beginning of a dance, and then for a session of tai chi. But suddenly he realized they were signing." — 2016 February 2, Diane Duane, Games Wizards Play, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN:
"But that's not what will make her a powerful wizard – more powerful than me, more powerful than Leesha, even more powerful than you." — 2021 November 1, Dale Stubbart, The Wizard Without a Wand, Dale Stubbart:
"Figure 10-10 shows a typical wizard. The user enters data in New Employee on each tab and then moves on to the next one. This wizard asks […]" — 2010 September 17, Bill Evjen, Christian Nagel, Rod Stephens, Robert Vieira, Nick Randolph, .NET 4 Wrox PDF Bundle: Professional ASP.NET 4, Professional C# 4, VB 2010 Programmer's Ref, WPF Programmer's Ref, Professional Visual Studio 2010, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 169:
"Wizards, in general, have a very different experience of mudding than other players. Because of their palpable and extensive extra powers over other players, and because of their special role in MUD society, they are frequently treated differently[…]" — 1997, Philip Agre and Douglas Schuler, Reinventing Technology, Rediscovering Community: Critical Explorations of Computing as a Social Practice, page 153:

Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words

CEFR Practice Quiz
In the fantasy story, the old ____ used magic to defeat the dark forces.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In the story, the powerful ____ uses his magic to protect the kingdom from several many dark and evil forces today.

Expand Your Vocabulary with LexUp

Master English words using smart flashcards, play exciting word rounds, and compete with other learners worldwide.

Browse CEFR Words Alphabetically