sorcery

English

Etymology

From Middle English sorcery, borrowed from Middle French sorcerie, ultimately derived from Latin sors (“fate”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to bind”). Cognate with serō, seriēs, sermō. Compare also French sorcier.

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: sôr'sərē, IPA^(key): /ˈsɔɹ.sə.ɹi/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɔː.sə.ɹi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

sorcery (countable and uncountable, plural sorceries)

1. Magical power; the use of witchcraft or magic arts.

   Synonyms: warlockry, witchery, wizardry; see also Thesaurus:magic

   The tale is full of magic and sorcery.

   In the Middle Ages, people were often accused of practicing sorcery.

2. Black magic.

   Synonyms: black art, cacomagic, dark magic; see also Thesaurus:black magic

Derived terms

• countersorcery
• sorcerous
• sword and sorcery

Related terms

• sorcerer
• sorceress
• sort

Translations

magical power

• Akkadian: 𒆠𒅖𒁍 m pl (kišpū)
• Arabic: سِحْر (ar) m (siḥr)

  Egyptian Arabic: سحر (siḥr)

• Armenian: կախարդություն (hy) (kaxardutʻyun)
• Bulgarian: вълшебство (bg) n (vǎlšebstvo), магьосничество n (magjosničestvo)
• Burmese: ပယောဂ (my) (pa.yau:ga.)
• Catalan: fetilleria f
• Chichewa: matsenga class 6
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 妖術 / 妖术 (zh) (yāoshù), 巫術 / 巫术 (zh) (wūshù), 魔術 / 魔术 (zh) (móshù), 魔法 (zh) (mófǎ),魔力 (zh) (mólì)

• Danish: trolddom c, hekseri c, magi (da) c, heksekunst c
• Dutch: tovenarij (nl) f, hekserij (nl) f, wichelarij (nl) f
• Egyptian: (ḥkꜣ m)
• Esperanto: sorĉado
• Ewe: dzosasa
• Finnish: noituus (fi), noitavoima
• French: sorcellerie (fr) f
• Galician: magacía f, meiguería (gl) f, feiticeiría f, xorxinería f, bruxeiría f, bruxaría (gl) f, bruxedo m
• German: Zauberei (de) f, Hexerei (de) f
• Gothic: 𐌻𐌿𐌱𐌾𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍃𐌴𐌹 f (lubjaleisei)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: μαγεία f (mageía), γοητεία f (goēteía)

• Hindi: माया (hi) f (māyā)
• Hungarian: varázslás (hu), mágia (hu), kuruzslás (hu)
• Ingrian: noijitus, noijitos
• Irish: draíocht f, asarlaíocht f
• Italian: stregoneria (it) f
• Japanese: 魔術 (ja) (まじゅつ, majutsu), 巫術 (ふじゅつ, fujutsu), 魔法 (ja) (まほう, mahō)
• Korean: 마법(魔法) (ko) (mabeop), 요술(妖術) (ko) (yosul)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: سیحربازی (sîḧirbazî)

• Latin: magia (la), veneficium n, magice, artes magicae f pl, artes magae f pl, (harmful) maleficium
• Māori: mākutu, whaiwhaiā
• Ngarrindjeri: ngadhungi
• Norman: chorchell'lie f
• Norwegian: trolldom m
• Old English: drȳcræft m
• Persian: جادو (fa) (jâdu), فرهست (fa) (farhast)

  Middle Persian: [script needed] (yʾtwkyh /⁠jādūgīh⁠/)

• Plautdietsch: Hakjsarie n, Hakjsenkonst f, Zaubarie f
• Polish: czary (pl), czarnoksięstwo (pl) n, czarna magia (pl) f, magia (pl) f
• Portuguese: feitiçaria (pt) f, bruxaria (pt), bruxedo m, magia (pt) f, mágica (pt) f
• Russian: колдовство́ (ru) n (koldovstvó), волшебство́ (ru) n (volšebstvó), ча́ры (ru) f pl (čáry), ма́гия (ru) f (mágija), ворожба́ (ru) f (vorožbá), чароде́йство (ru) n (čarodéjstvo)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: врачарство n, врачање n, врачарија f, враџбина f

  Latin: vračarstvo n, vračanje (sh) n, vračarija (sh) f, vradžbina (sh) f

• Spanish: brujería (es) f, magia (es) f
• Swedish: trolldom (sv) c
• Tibetan: མཐུ (mthu)
• Turkish: büyü (tr), yada (tr), efsun (tr), sihir (tr)
• Vietnamese: yêu thuật (vi) (妖術), ma thuật (vi) (魔術)
• Welsh: dewiniaeth f

See also

• Sorcery in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Middle English

Alternative forms

• sorcerye, sorcerie, sorcere, socerry, soserye, socerye

Etymology

From Middle French sorcerie, from Old French sorcerie.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɔrsəˈriː(ə)/, /sɔrsəˈreː(ə)/
• (with /rs/→/s/) IPA^(key): /sɔsəˈriː(ə)/, /sɔsəˈreː(ə)/

Noun

sorcery (plural sorceries)

1. sorcery, wizardry, magic
2. A supernatural event

Related terms

• sorcerere
• sorceresse

Descendants

• English: sorcery
• Scots: sorcery

References

• “sorcerī(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 11 April 2018.