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
Water
Water is not just a physical necessity for our bodies and the Earth, but it also plays a role in rituals, spells, and cleansing practices within the realm of witchcraft. The word water...
Water
Water is not just a physical necessity for our bodies and the Earth, but it also plays a role in rituals, spells, and cleansing practices within the realm of witchcraft. The word water...
Fire
Fire is a powerful symbol of transformation. It reflects the duality of humankind- it can be warm and keep you cozy or it can be chaos and destruction. The word fire...
Fire
Fire is a powerful symbol of transformation. It reflects the duality of humankind- it can be warm and keep you cozy or it can be chaos and destruction. The word fire...
Air
Air refers to the atmosphere around us, the oxygen compound that we breath. Air is a borrowing from French. The Anglo-Norman and Old French spellings were aire and eir. These spellings are not...
Air
Air refers to the atmosphere around us, the oxygen compound that we breath. Air is a borrowing from French. The Anglo-Norman and Old French spellings were aire and eir. These spellings are not...
Prayer
A prayer is a request or thanks addressed to a god or other deity. The word prayer is a borrowing from French. This is seen as early as 1300 CE, so...
Prayer
A prayer is a request or thanks addressed to a god or other deity. The word prayer is a borrowing from French. This is seen as early as 1300 CE, so...
Selenite
Selenite is a fragile white crystal that is associated with cleansing spaces and healing energies. The word selenite is borrowed from Latin selēnītēs. This was borrowed around 1567 CE during Early...
Selenite
Selenite is a fragile white crystal that is associated with cleansing spaces and healing energies. The word selenite is borrowed from Latin selēnītēs. This was borrowed around 1567 CE during Early...
Star
A star is one of many celestial objects that light up the sky at night. The word star is inherited from Germanic. The original word in Old English appears to have...
Star
A star is one of many celestial objects that light up the sky at night. The word star is inherited from Germanic. The original word in Old English appears to have...
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.