mage

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin magus (“magician”), in an anglicized form,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} or from Anglo-Norman mage, also Middle French, recorded late in the 15th century but as mague already in the 13th.^[2][7][8][9] The American Heritage Dictionary derives it from Middle English mages (“magicians”), a variant of magi,^[10] which the MED records from about 1175.^[11] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek μάγος (mágos), from Old Persian maguš;^[2][5] the Greeks used it for the learned priestly class of the Persians, said to have been originally the name of a Median tribe.^[5] It is related to magic.^[7][5][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A magician, or more generally a person of great wisdom and learning: before 1425, in T. Castleford's Chronicle,^[2] about 1400 in Etymonline^[5] and in the 15th century in Merriam-Webster.^[6]

Semantic evolution

From 1585 mage was also used specifically for one of the Magi, the Persian priests.^[2][4] Johnson (1755) defined it as "a magician", citing Spenser.^[12] The OED marked it archaic by the late 19th century,^[5] and it is now archaic or literary,^[4][13] though Etymonline notes that fantasy games revived it.^[5]

Timeline

• before 1425 – a magician; a person of great learning.^[2]
• 1585 – a magus, one of the Persian priestly class.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic or literary) A magician or sorcerer: The old mage raised his staff.^{[13][4][6][10]}
2. A person of great wisdom and learning.^[2][4]
3. A magus.^[6][2][4]

Word family

• archimage

Related words

• magus
• magi
• magic
• magician

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins