# wizard

Pronunciation: US say "WIZ-urd" /ˈwɪz.ɚd/; UK say "WIZ-uhd" /ˈwɪz.əd/

## Noun

1. A person, usually a man, who practices magic or is skilled in magic, magical objects, and mystical arts.
   - Simple: A person, usually a man, who can do magic.
   - _The old wizard raised his staff, and the iron gate swung open._
   - _In the novel, young wizards study for seven years before they are trusted with a wand._
2. A person who is exceptionally skilled or unusually talented in a particular field.
   - Simple: A person who is very, very good at something.
   - _She's a wizard with numbers, so she does the family's taxes every year._
   - _The startup hired a marketing wizard who tripled its sales in a year._
3. In computing, a program or script that makes a complex task simpler, often for inexperienced users, by leading them through it in steps.
   - Simple: In computing, a tool that helps you do a hard task one simple step at a time.
   - _The setup wizard walks you through choosing a language and connecting to Wi-Fi._
   - _If the import fails, run the wizard again and check each field before clicking Next._

## Verb

4. To work magic, or to produce something by magic or as if by magic.
   - Simple: To do magic, or to make something appear as if by magic.

## Adjective

5. Excellent or superb; originally Royal Air Force slang. *(dated, British)*
   - Simple: Very good or great.
   - _That was a wizard bit of flying, Johnny._
   - _It's been a wizard holiday, and the weather held all week._

## Noun

6. A wise man; a sage. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A very wise man.

## Other meanings

- (noun) Any of the people with administrative control over a multi-user dungeon, or MUD.
- (noun) In incel slang, sometimes humorously, a virgin over the age of 30 who does not socialize and so cannot find a sexual partner.

## Origin

From Middle English wysard, equivalent to wise + -ard; it did not take on the distinct sense of a magic user, as opposed to a sage, until around the 1500s. Through Proto-Indo-European *weyd- it is distantly related to druid. The slang sense “old male virgin” comes from a Japanese internet meme.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/wizard (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).