wizard

Etymology

From Middle English wysard, wysarde, equivalent to wise + -ard. A uniquely medieval Anglo-Saxon word with no known cognates in or outside the Germanic family; did not gain distinct sense of "occultist, magic user" (as opposed to a philosopher or sage) until circa 1500s, aligning roughly with the starting English Renaissance. The sense of "old (male) virgin" is from a Japanese Internet meme where virgins legendarily gain magical powers upon reaching 30 years of age; popularized ultimately by 4chan and adjacent online spaces.

noun

1. Someone, usually male, who uses (or has skill with) magic, mystic items, and magical and mystical practices.
   The wizard conjured up a large fireball.
   The wily wizard must be caught. 1697, John Dryden, Translation of Virgil's Georgics
   He found himself watching a couple of wizards doing what he at first mistook for the beginning of a dance, and then for a session of tai chi. But suddenly he realized they were signing. 2016-02-02, Diane Duane, Games Wizards Play, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
   But that's not what will make her a powerful wizard – more powerful than me, more powerful than Leesha, even more powerful than you. 2021-11-01, Dale Stubbart, The Wizard Without a Wand, Dale Stubbart
2. One who is especially skilled or unusually talented in a particular field.
   He was a financial wizard, capable of predicting the movements of the stock markets.
3. (computing) A computer program or script used to simplify complex operations, often for an inexperienced user.
   Use the "Add Network Connection" wizard to connect to a network in a series of simple steps.
   Figure 10-1() shows a typical wizard. The user enters data in New Employee on each tab and then moves on to the next one. This wizard asks […] 2010-09-17, Bill Evjen, Christian Nagel, Rod Stephens, Robert Vieira, Nick Randolph, .NET 4 Wrox PDF Bundle: Professional ASP.NET 4, Professional C# 4, VB 2010 Programmer's Ref, WPF Programmer's Ref, Professional Visual Studio 2010, John Wiley & Sons, page 169
4. (Internet) One of the administrators of a multi-user dungeon.
   Wizards, in general, have a very different experience of mudding than other players. Because of their palpable and extensive extra powers over other players, and because of their special role in MUD society, they are frequently treated differently[…] 1997, Philip Agre, Douglas Schuler, Reinventing Technology, Rediscovering Community: Critical Explorations of Computing as a Social Practice, page 153
   It is certainly easy to believe the stories I hear of MUD wizards who demand deference and severely punish those who transgress […] 1997, Sara Kiesler, editor, Culture of the Internet, page 132
5. (obsolete) A wise man; a sage.
6. (Internet slang, sometimes humorous) A virgin over the age of 30 (most often male).
   I see this image of the basement-dwelling wizard who rejects societal conventions to such an extreme degree as one of the tragic heroes of our times. 23 September 2014, Joe Zadeh, quoting Jon Rafman, “"Musician rebels embrace darknet to explore uncensored internet frontiers”, in Guardian
   The incels’ folk hero is the 30-year-old virgin wizard – if you can make it to 30 without having sex, you will be endowed with magical powers. And the threads are so pathetic that it is hard to feel anything but ambient pity (on the site Wiz Chan – subtitle “disregard females, acquire magic” – one thread titled How do I live in my sedan? is like a short story). 25 April 2018, Zoe Williams, “‘Raw hatred’: why the 'incel' movement targets and terrorises women”, in The Guardian
   Incels are mostly losers who don’t get laid — involuntarily celibate. Basically it’s a giant pity party that started on the 4chan board R9K. R9K is a board on 4chan where inceldom started. They have their own terms and stuff like that. For example if you’re over 30 and still a virgin they call you a "Wizard." 25 April 2018, Oli Dugmore, “What is an incel? A former member of the internet subculture explains”, in JOE

adj

1. (slang, dated, Britain) Fine, superb (originally RAF slang).
   "We had a wizard show," the young leader of an Australian squadron said, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice. 1942, Quentin James Reynolds, Only the Stars are Neutral
   But he was a wizard flyer, that boy. 1943, Howard Macy Coffin, Walter Leslie River, Malta Story

verb

1. (intransitive) To practice wizardry.
2. (transitive) To conjure.