English
sorcerer
Sorcerer comes from Old French sorcer, from Latin sortem ‘fate, fortune’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to bind’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-‘to bind’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsortem‘fate, fortune’
- Early Medieval Latinmodernsortiārius
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400sorcer
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sorcerere
- Englishearliest quotation 1936sorcerer
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-‘to bind’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsortem‘fate, fortune’
- Early Medieval Latinmodernsortiārius
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400sorcer
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sorcerere
- Englishearliest quotation 1936sorcerer
Earliest quotation: 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art: “Pope Joan, who once occupied the throne of the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to bind’
series, service, serve, conservative, hero, stream, desert, insert, reservoir, assertion, sermon, consortium, conservatism, exert, assertive, concierge, heresy, observant, servitude, consort, sark, heretic, strudel, conservator, servile, sortie, serf, sere, 32 more
through Latin sortem ‘fate, fortune’
Today it means
noun A magician or wizard. Sometimes specifically male.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ser- / sorcerer