warlock

== English == === Alternative forms === warluck (uncommon, chiefly dialectal, largely obsolete) warlow (obsolete) === Etymology === From Middle English warloghe, warlowe, warloȝe, from Old English wǣrloga (“traitor, deceiver”, literally “truce-breaker”), from Proto-West Germanic *wārulogō (“liar”), equivalent to Old English wǣr (“covenant, truce, pact, promise”) (from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁- (“true”); whence also Latin vērus) + loga (“liar”), from Proto-Germanic *lugô, related to Old English lēogan (whence English lie). The hard -ck ending originated in Scottish and Northern English, like the sense "male magic-user" (from the notion that such men were in league with the Devil and had thus broken their baptismal vows / betrayed Christianity). Cognate with Old Saxon wārlogo (“liar, unfaithful or insidious one”). A few writers alternatively propose a derivation from Old Norse varðlokkur (“incantations, charms”, literally “ward songs”), but as the OED notes, this is implausible due to the extreme rarity of the Norse word, the semantic difference, and because forms without hard -k, which are consistent with the Old English etymology (“traitor”), are attested earlier than forms with -k, and forms with -ð- are not attested. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈwɔː.lɒk/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈwɔɹ.lɑk/ === Noun === warlock (plural warlocks) A male magic-user; a male equivalent of a witch; a wizard. (especially in fantasy) A magic-user (regardless of gender). ==== Usage notes ==== Unlike the word wizard which has neutral or even positive connotations, the word warlock chiefly refers to a malevolent magic-user. Because of its etymology, the term is not used by some neopagans, who prefer other terms like witch instead. ==== Translations ==== === References === === Anagrams === lacwork == Scots == === Alternative forms === warlick, warlo, warluck, waurlock === Etymology === From Middle English warloghe, warlowe, warloȝe, from Old English wǣrloga (“traitor, deceiver”, literally “truce-breaker”), from wǣr (“covenant, truce, pact, promise”) (from Proto-Indo-European *wēr- (“true”); compare veritable) + loga (“liar”), from Proto-Germanic *lugô, related to Old English lēogan (whence English lie). === Noun === warlock (plural warlocks) the Devil a devil; a fiend warlock; a man who is thought to be in league with the powers of darkness and to have supernatural knowledge and means of bewitching and harming others (occasionally) witch (in a weaker sense) sorcerer, wizard, magician (attributive, in combination) bewitched, magical, supernatural; malevolent, mischievous (derogatory) an old, ugly or misanthropic man; a mischievous or troublesome fellow ==== Synonyms ==== (male magic user): juglour, sorcerar, varlet, weird (female magic user): ell-woman, galdragon, gyre carline, hexie, sorceres, wancanny carlin, weird-woman, wise woman, wise wife, witch, witch-carline, witch-queen, witch-wife ==== Derived terms ==== === Further reading === “warlock”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.