Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “sorcery” come from?

sorcery (Middle English) comes from Middle French sorcerie, from Latin sors, from Latin legere, from Latin legō, from Latin lēx, from Proto-Italic lēg-, from Proto-Indo-European leǵ-s, from Proto-Indo-European leǵ- — to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to...

sorcery (Middle English): sorcery, wizardry, magic; A supernatural event

Definitions

  1. sorcery, wizardry, magic; A supernatural event

Ancestry of “sorcery”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchsorcerie—
2Latinsorsanything used to determine chances, lot; a...
3Latinlegeresecond-person singular future passive indicative...
4Latinlegō—
5Latinlēx—
6Proto-Italiclēg-—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanleǵ-s—
8Proto-Indo-Europeanleǵ-to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to...

Words derived from “sorcery”

  • sorcery
  • countersorcery
  • ソーサリー
Every word from Proto-Indo-European leǵ- →