The word "wizard" comes from the Middle English wizard, which means "one who is habitually or abnormally wise," and may be derived from the same Indo-European origin as "witch," "wicca," "ved'ma," and other esoteric terms.
- It was originally used to describe rural sorcerers in fifteenth-century Britain and continental Europe.
- The word "wizard" has mostly devolved into a literary phrase, with few people claiming to be "wizards" (although this may change with the advent of Harry Potter).
- In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, however, it was a popular word that was used to both male and female practitioners.
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