Raindoolidoo

I’m just….

Staff:

Current list of things I’ve seen that have been flagged:

The Modern English “Witch” of course comes from the Middle English “Wicche.” The Middle English “Wicche” was, of course, a gender neutral version of the Old Englsh “Wicce” and “Wicca” – which were gendered. “Wicce” being the feminine form, and “Wicca” being the masculine.

You may recognize the masculine Old English word as it lends itself (albeit with a different pronunciation) to the most common form of modern day Witchcraft – the religion Wicca.

Outside of the Modern Witchcraft Movement, if we poke into history you’ll find that during the European Witch Trials men were tried as – you guessed it – Witches. While those trials did disproportionately women, that was mostly because of, well, western culture just hating women in general. Many men were also accused though, and when they were, they were called Witches.

So, y’know, it’s gender neutral.

A practitioner of Witchcraft is a Witch regardless of gender.

Wizard actually originally meant philosopher, has a completely different etymology, and didn’t come to refer to a “magic user” until the 1550s – long after the word Witch was in common usage. It also is found primarily in fiction.

Warlock is a word meaning “oath breaker” (specifically breaking an oath to Jesus Christ) and didn’t start getting used for “Male Witches” until 19th century fiction. That fiction eventually entered the pop cultural consciousness – but those practicing Witchcraft have almost never actually used that word (save for a few who have decided to “reclaim” what they consider a slur).

*gives full entymology of the word, proving it is gender neutral, gives examples throughout history of people using it in a gender neutral way*