wizard

views updated May 23 2018

wiz·ard / ˈwizərd/ • n. 1. a man who has magical powers, esp. in legends and fairy tales. ∎  a person who is very skilled in a particular field or activity: a financial wizard.2. Comput. a help feature of a software package that automates complex tasks by asking the user a series of easy-to-answer questions.• adj. inf., dated, chiefly Brit. wonderful; excellent.DERIVATIVES: wiz·ard·ly adj. (in sense 1 of the noun ).

wizard

views updated May 29 2018

wizard a man who has magical powers, especially in legends and fairy tales. Recorded from late Middle English, the word originally meant ‘philosopher, sage’, and comes from wise; the sense of a person skilled in the occult arts dates from the mid 16th century.

In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) by L. Frank Baum, the orphaned Dorothy, who has been carried by a cyclone to the land of Oz, joins the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man in their search for the magician (the Wizard of Oz) who can give them their heart's desire, although the wizard's power is in the end illusory.

wizard

views updated May 21 2018

wizard †philosopher, sage XV; man skilled in occult arts XVI. Earliest forms wis(e)ard, wissard; f. ME. wīs WISE2 + -ARD.
Hence wizardry XVI.

wizard

views updated May 29 2018

wizard A software utility that helps a user to perform a particular task or install a program, usually by asking questions and giving options that the user may select.