warlock

• warluck (uncommon, chiefly dialectal, largely obsolete)
• warlow (obsolete)

From Middle English warloghe, warlowe, warloȝe, from Old English wǣrloga (“traitor, deceiver”, literally “truce-breaker”), from Proto-West Germanic *wārulogō (“liar”), equivalent to Old English wǣr (“covenant, truce, pact, promise”) (from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁- (“true”); whence also Latin vērus) + loga (“liar”), from Proto-Germanic *lugô, related to Old English lēogan (whence English lie). The hard -ck ending originated in Scottish and Northern English, like the sense "male magic-user" (from the notion that such men were in league with the Devil and had thus broken their baptismal vows / betrayed Christianity). Cognate with Old Saxon wārlogo (“liar, unfaithful or insidious one”).

A few writers alternatively propose^[1] a derivation from Old Norse varðlokkur (“incantations, charms”, literally “ward songs”),^[2] but as the OED notes, this is implausible due to the extreme rarity of the Norse word, the semantic difference, and because forms without hard -k, which are consistent with the Old English etymology (“traitor”), are attested earlier than forms with -k,^[3] and forms with -ð- are not attested.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɔː.lɒk/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɔɹ.lɑk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

warlock (plural warlocks)

1. A male magic-user; a male witch.
   • 1730, Edward Burt, Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland:

     He was himself a warlock, or wizard, which they knew by his taking the witch's part.

   • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

     It was the day of warlocks and apparitions, now happily driven out by the zeal of the General Assembly.

2. (especially in fantasy) A magic-user (regardless of gender).
   • 2015 February 25, Lawrence Watt-Evans, The Spell of the Black Dagger: A Legend of Ethshar, Wildside Press LLC, →ISBN, page 115:

     “Is it because she was a warlock?” she asked. “I know different kinds of magic . . .” “No, that's not it, or at least . . .” Mereth paused, collecting her thoughts, then explained, “The warlockry doesn't help, Lady Sarai, […]”

   • 2015 March 17, Cassandra Clare, Robin Wasserman, The Lost Herondale, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

     It seemed like a strange thing for her to risk on a student she barely knew—but then, she was a warlock. Simon had no idea what they were capable of, but he was getting better at imagining.

   • 2015 July 21, Cassandra Clare, Robin Wasserman, Pale Kings and Princes, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

     Usually she blended in with the rest of the Academy faculty, making it easy to forget she was a warlock (at least, if you overlooked the blue skin). But he'd noticed that whenever another Downworlder was on campus, Catarina went out […]

   • 2020 September 1, Cassandra Clare, Wesley Chu, The Lost Book of the White, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

     “We're also looking for a couple of warlocks,” Magnus said. “A Korean woman and a green fellow with horns.” “Oh,” said Fang with a distinct change of mood. “Them.” “You've seen them?” Alec said, trying not to sound too eager.

• Because of its etymology, the term is not used by some male witches, who prefer other terms like witch instead.^[4][5][6]

• lacwork

• warlick, warlo, warluck, waurlock

From Middle English warloghe, warlowe, warloȝe, from Old English wǣrloga (“traitor, deceiver”, literally “truce-breaker”), from wǣr (“covenant, truce, pact, promise”) (from Proto-Indo-European *wēr- (“true”); compare veritable) + loga (“liar”), from Proto-Germanic *lugô, related to Old English lēogan (whence English lie).

warlock (plural warlocks)

1. the Devil
   1. a devil; a fiend
2. warlock; a man who is thought to be in league with the powers of darkness and to have supernatural knowledge and means of bewitching and harming others
   1. (occasionally) witch
   2. (in a weaker sense) sorcerer, wizard, magician
      • He wis hissel a warlock or a wicht, whit thay kent by thit he teuk 'e witch's pairt.

        He was himself a warlock, or wizard, which they knew by his taking the witch's part.

3. (attributive, in combination) bewitched, magical, supernatural; malevolent, mischievous
4. (derogatory) an old, ugly or misanthropic man; a mischievous or troublesome fellow

• (male magic user): juglour, sorcerar, varlet, weird
• (female magic user): ell-woman, galdragon, gyre carline, hexie, sorceres, wancanny carlin, weird-woman, wise woman, wise wife, witch, witch-carline, witch-queen, witch-wife

• “warlock”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.