Where does “sorcerer” come from?
Sorcerer comes from Middle English sorcerere, from Old French sorcier, from Vulgar Latin sortiarius, from Latin -arius, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European seh₁- and ser-.
sorcerer (English): A magician or wizard, sometimes specifically male
Definitions
- A magician or wizard, sometimes specifically male
Ancestry of “sorcerer”, step by step
sorcerer traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Old French sorcier
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | sorcier | sorcerer |
| 2 | Vulgar Latin | sortiarius | sorcerer |
| 3 | Latin | sors | anything used to determine chances, lot; a... |
| 4 | Latin | legere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 5 | Latin | legō | to collect, gather, bring together, catch |
| 6 | Latin | lēx | a proposition or motion for a law made to the people by a magistrate, a bill |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | lēg- | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | leǵ-s | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | leǵ- | to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to... |
via Middle English sorcerere
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | sorcerere | sorcerer |
| 2 | Middle English | -er | agentive suffix; agent noun suffix |
| 3 | Old French | -er | Alternative form of -ier, verbal suffix;... |
| 4 | Latin | -āre | first conjugation |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -āō | Forms primarily denominative verbs |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -eh₂yéti | Creates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 9 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |