History of Terms in Witchcraft
Hello, and welcome to our compendium of witchcraft terms!
This started as a project for one of Aubrey's Masters classes at ASU, the History of the English Language.
The amount of words that are native to English has dwindled since there was so much contact between the Anglo-Saxons and the rest of the world. My personal area of interest is in witchcraft and religion. I saw that a previous student had created a presentation on words and idioms used in witchcraft. I really liked this idea, and spoke with Jessi about hosting this information here on our website. She was very excited to have this here. After the assignment is submitted, I will continue to add to this compendium with more information.
I hypothesized that more than 50% of words associated with witchcraft and religion are borrowed words. I think that this is the case since most practiced religions among the masses evolved from Europe and the Middle East.
History of Terms in Witchcraft
Ghost
*This is a transcription of my notes and discussion board posts from my class for the first project. This page in under construction.* For my project, I chose to look...
Ghost
*This is a transcription of my notes and discussion board posts from my class for the first project. This page in under construction.* For my project, I chose to look...
Blessing
A blessing is a ritual or saying to make something or someone sacred or holy. The word blessing is inherited from Germanic into Old English. Although it was inherited from Germanic,...
Blessing
A blessing is a ritual or saying to make something or someone sacred or holy. The word blessing is inherited from Germanic into Old English. Although it was inherited from Germanic,...
Pendulum
A pendulum can help reveal what is hidden to you with simple yes and no answers. The word pendulum is a borrowing from Latin. The Latin word is not spelled differently. Pendulum...
Pendulum
A pendulum can help reveal what is hidden to you with simple yes and no answers. The word pendulum is a borrowing from Latin. The Latin word is not spelled differently. Pendulum...
Spell
A spell can be many things, but this is usually said in reference to a set of words or verse suggestive of witchcraft. The word spell is inherited from Germanic; however,...
Spell
A spell can be many things, but this is usually said in reference to a set of words or verse suggestive of witchcraft. The word spell is inherited from Germanic; however,...
Altar
An altar is a place of worship, typically a tabletop or other platform to house materials for religious or spiritual rituals. The word altar is of multiple origins and is found...
Altar
An altar is a place of worship, typically a tabletop or other platform to house materials for religious or spiritual rituals. The word altar is of multiple origins and is found...
Earth
Earth is the ground that we live on. It can primarily refer to two things: the planet Earth or the dirt beneath us. The word earth was inherited from Germanic. The...
Earth
Earth is the ground that we live on. It can primarily refer to two things: the planet Earth or the dirt beneath us. The word earth was inherited from Germanic. The...
Conclusion
Many of the words listed here, as of August 6th, 2024, are borrowed from other languages. They are mostly borrowed from French and Latin. There are other words that were inherited from Germanic and are very closely related to Latin words.
I was anticipating more terms to have been borrowed than what I found resulting in my original hypothesis as being incorrect. I am also surprised that there is little influence beyond French and Latin. I am looking forward to continuing to research more terms to share and add to the site. I hope that you find this as interesting and helpful as I do.