Wicca

== English == === Etymology === A twentieth-century borrowing of Old English wiċċa (“male witch”) (from Proto-West Germanic *wikkō (“sorcerer”)) with a spelling pronunciation. The modern use of the term was introduced first as Wica, mentioned briefly in the tenth chapter of Gerald Gardner's book Witchcraft Today (1954), as a collective noun ("the Wica"), allegedly used as a self-designation by practitioners of witchcraft. The spelling Wicca, again as a collective noun, was introduced and popularized by Gerald Gardner's later book, The Meaning of Witchcraft (1959). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈwɪkə/, [ˈwɪkə] Rhymes: -ɪkə Hyphenation: Wicc‧a Homophone: wicker (non-rhotic) === Proper noun === Wicca A neopagan religion that was first popularized by books written in 1949, 1954, and 1959 by the Englishman Gerald Gardner, involving the worship of a horned male god and a moon goddess, the observance of eight Sabbats, and the performance of various rituals. ==== Coordinate terms ==== ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References ===