sorcerer

American  

[sawr-ser-er] / ˈsɔr sər ər /

noun

1. a person who practices sorcery; black magician; wizard.

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sorcerer British  

/ ˈsɔːsərə, ˈsɔːsərɪs /

noun

1. a person who seeks to control and use magic powers; a wizard or magician

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Usage

What does sorcerer mean? A sorcerer is a person who can perform sorcery—witchcraft or magic. The word sorcerer can be used for any gender, but it typically refers to a man. The word sorceress refers to a woman who performs sorcery. The word sorcery often (though not always) refers to so-called black magic—magic used for evil purposes. That’s why sorcerer and sorceress are often used to refer to evil characters in works of fiction, especially in the fantasy genre. In contrast, similar words like wizard and magician usually imply that such figures use their powers for good. If not, you’d usually call them an evil wizard or evil magician. Apart from whether or not they use their supernatural powers for good or evil, the words sorcerer and sorceress often imply that such a person is very powerful due to having great skill and command of such powers. For this reason, the word sorcerer is sometimes used in a figurative way to refer to a person who is very skilled at something, as if they have magical abilities, as in Chris is a sorcerer at coding. The word sorcery can be used to refer to such skill. The words wizard and wizardry are used (even more commonly) in the same ways. Example: The sorcerer has cast a powerful spell to enchant this land.

Other Word Forms

• undersorcerer
  noun

Etymology

Origin of sorcerer

1520–30; earlier sorcer, Middle English < Middle French sorcier, perhaps < Vulgar Latin *sortiārius one who casts lots, equivalent to Latin sort- (stem of sors ) lot, fate + -i- -i- + -ārius -ier ²; see -er ¹

Compare meaning

How does sorcerer compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• warlock vs. sorcerer

Explanation

Magical, mysterious, and quite possibly mythical, a sorcerer is a name for a spell-casting wizard. Use the noun sorcerer when you're talking about a magician who practices enchantments and conjures spells. Sorcerers appear in many fantasy novels and Shakespeare plays. The word for a female sorcerer is sorceress. The Latin word sors, "fate or fortune," is at the root of sorcerer, which didn't come into popular use until after the 1940 release of the Disney film "Fantasia," which featured Mickey Mouse as the character "the sorcerer's apprentice."

Example Sentences

That’s a point made in a new book, The Voyage of the Sorcerer II: Explorations into the Microbiome of the Oceans, which I co-authored with geneticist Craig Venter.

From Scientific American • Sep. 8, 2023

The Roy Scheider action-thriller "Sorcerer," his next film, bombed in 1977, as did the comedy "The Brink's Job" in 1978.

From Reuters • Aug. 7, 2023

The Sorcerer Supreme, Master of the Mystic Arts, leader and former librarian of Kamar-Taj.

From Salon • Sep. 10, 2022

In one @b_a_l_l_h_a_u_s post, Harden stares cryptically out of the frame, eyes full of secrets, next to Paul Gauguin’s “The Sorcerer of Hiva Oa.”

From New York Times • Jun. 28, 2022

‘King of Angmar long ago, Sorcerer, Ringwraith, Lord of the Nazgûl, a spear of terror in the hand of Sauron, shadow of despair.’

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien