Quidditch

Coined by British author J. K. Rowling in her 1997 book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. In Quidditch Through the Ages, Rowling gives some etymological information, hinting that the word evolved from Queerditch (compound of queer + ditch), with some spelling variation as would be expected in real life Middle English, namely Kwidditch, Kweerditch.

Maybe you wish your parents were smarter or funnier or richer or better looking, but you might as well wish for a spot on the local Quidditch team.

2003, “Universal Lifts the Veil on a Harry Potter Park”, in New York Times:

Turn to the south, and you see the Central Acropolis, a five-story palace where the nobles might have sat to watch plaza ceremonies or the famous Quidditch-like Mayan ball games.

2007 December 16, Ethan Todras-Whitehill, “In Tikal, Temples in the Mist”, in New York Times:

Whichever team gets Yegor holds the edge. This is like Quidditch in hell.

2007, Roger Ebert, Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2007:

Eton’s playing fields are famous, not least because of the Eton Field Game. It’s played only there. It’s sort of like Quidditch for real people.

2010 May 8, Brooks Barnes, “Wait, Wait... Don’t Tell Me!”, in National Public Radio:

A fictional ball game played between two teams of seven players riding flying broomsticks, using four balls and six elevated ring-shaped goals.


warlock

From Middle English warloghe, warlowe, warloȝe, from Old English wǣrloga (“traitor, deceiver”, literally “truce-breaker”), from Proto-West Germanic *wārulogō (“liar”), equivalent to Old English wǣr (“covenant, truce, pact, promise”) (from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁- (“true”); whence also Latin vērus) + loga (“liar”), from Proto-Germanic *lugô, related to Old English lēogan (whence English lie). The hard -ck ending originated in Scottish and Northern English, like the sense "male magic-user" (from the notion that such men were in league with the Devil and had thus broken their baptismal vows / betrayed Christianity). Cognate with Old Saxon wārlogo (“liar, unfaithful or insidious one”).
A few writers alternatively propose a derivation from Old Norse varðlokkur (“incantations, charms”, literally “ward songs”), but as the OED notes, this is implausible due to the extreme rarity of the Norse word, the semantic difference, and because forms without hard -k, which are consistent with the Old English etymology (“traitor”), are attested earlier than forms with -k, and forms with -ð- are not attested.

cog

He was himself a warlock, or wizard, which they knew by his taking the witch's part.

1730, Edward Burt, Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland:

It was the day of warlocks and apparitions, now happily driven out by the zeal of the General Assembly.

1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

“Is it because she was a warlock?” she asked. “I know different kinds of magic . . .” “No, that's not it, or at least . . .” Mereth paused, collecting her thoughts, then explained, “The warlockry doesn't help, Lady Sarai,[…]”

2015 February 25, Lawrence Watt-Evans, The Spell of the Black Dagger: A Legend of Ethshar, Wildside Press LLC, →ISBN, page 115:

It seemed like a strange thing for her to risk on a student she barely knew—but then, she was a warlock. Simon had no idea what they were capable of, but he was getting better at imagining.

2015 March 17, Cassandra Clare, Robin Wasserman, The Lost Herondale, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

Usually she blended in with the rest of the Academy faculty, making it easy to forget she was a warlock (at least, if you overlooked the blue skin). But he'd noticed that whenever another Downworlder was on campus, Catarina went out[…]

2015 July 21, Cassandra Clare, Robin Wasserman, Pale Kings and Princes, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

“We're also looking for a couple of warlocks,” Magnus said. “A Korean woman and a green fellow with horns.” “Oh,” said Fang with a distinct change of mood. “Them.” “You've seen them?” Alec said, trying not to sound too eager.

2020 September 1, Cassandra Clare, Wesley Chu, The Lost Book of the White, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

(especially in fantasy) A magic-user (regardless of gender).


oni

ONI 鬼. Generic name for devils, the representation of which in art is quite a common feature. Onis have claws, a square head with two horns, sharp teeth, and malignant eyes surmounted by big eyebrows; occasionally they wear trousers of tiger skin.

1908, Henri L. Joly, Legend in Japanese Art: A Description of Historical Episodes, Legendary Characters, Folk-lore, Myths, Religious Symbolism, Illustrated in the Arts of Old Japan, pages 263–264:

Across the ocean, in Japan, there once lived curious creatures called Onis. Every Japanese boy and girl has heard of them, though one has not often been caught.

1918, William Elliot Griffis, Dutch Fairy Tales for Young Folks:

"That's no human being playing the instrument," he thought in amazement. "It can only be an oni or some such being."

1979, Marian Ury, Tales of Times Now Past: Sixty-Two Stories from a Medieval Japanese Collection, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 147:

The standing Shoki holds with his left hand an oni on his leg.

1992, Karl M. Schwarz, Netsuke Subjects: A Study on the Netsuke Themes with Reference to Their Interpretation and Symbolism, Böhlau Verlag Wien, →ISBN, page 46:

This is actually a boy bishie in the form of an ogre. It's called an oni in Japanese. Onis have supernatural powers that can command the forces of nature such as wind (to create hurricanes) and lightning (to create thunderbolts).

2005, Christopher Hart, Manga Mania Shoujo: How to Draw the Charming and Romantic Characters of Japanese Comics, →ISBN, page 69:

The oni are a diverse group of evil spirits who take on the form of humanoid creatures so that they can enjoy the pleasures and vices of the flesh.

2011, Mike Shel, “Ecology of the Oni”, in Jade Regent: The Brinewall Legacy, Paizo Publishing, →ISBN, page 69:


draco

la-noun

dracō m (genitive dracōnis); third declension

dracō (canonical masculine)
dracōnis (genitive)
dracō (nominative singular)
dracōnēs (nominative plural)
dracōnis (genitive singular)
dracōnum (genitive plural)
dracōnī (dative singular)
dracōnibus (dative plural)
dracōnem (accusative singular)
dracōnēs (accusative plural)
dracōne (ablative singular)
dracōnibus (ablative plural)
dracō (singular vocative)
dracōnēs (plural vocative)

Eastern Romance:

Aromanian: drac, dracu, dãrac, darac

Megleno-Romanian: drac

Romanian: drac

Italian: drago, dragone

Navarro-Aragonese:

Aragonese: dragón

Neapolitan: draone

desctree

→ Old French: dragon, dragun (Anglo-Norman)
Middle French: dracon
French: dragon (see there for further descendants)
Norman: dragon
→ Middle English: dragoun, dragon, dragoune, dragun
English: dragon (see there for further descendants)
Scots: draigon
→ Old Irish: dragán
Irish: dragan
Manx: dragan

Old Leonese:

Asturian: dragu, dragón

Old Occitan:

Catalan: drac, dragó

Occitan: drac, dragon

→ French: drac

Old Galician-Portuguese: dragon

Galician: dragón

Portuguese: drago, dragão

Old Spanish: dragon
Spanish: drago, dragón (see there for further descendants)

Rhaeto-Romance:

Friulian: drâc, dragon

Romansch: dragun

Sardinian: dragone

Sicilian: dragu

→ Maltese: dragun

Venetan: dragon

Vulgar Latin: *dragōnis

→ Proto-Albanian: *dragɔ̄n

Albanian: dragua

→ Albanian: *drak

Albanian: dreq

→ Cornish: dragon

→ Estonian: draakon

→ Proto-West Germanic: *drakō (see there for further descendants)

→ Latvian: drakons

→ Lithuanian: drakonas

→ Welsh: draig

→ Yiddish: דראַקאָן (drakon)

From Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn, “serpent, dragon”).


cyclops

en-noun

cyclops (plural cyclops or cyclopes or cyclopses)

cyclops (plural)
cyclopes (plural)
cyclopses (plural)

Borrowed from Latin cyclōps, from Ancient Greek Κύκλωψ (Kúklōps, “Cyclops”), q.v.

der

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) A one-eyed giant from Greek and Roman mythology.

(zoology) Any copepod in the genus Cyclops.


bogie

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-bogie.wav

All of a sudden he heard a terrible scream ahead, and he thought it must be the bogie singing his dirge.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 47:

A ghost, goblin, or other hostile supernatural creature.


bogey

Probably related to or alteration of bogle, akin to or from a variant of Middle English bugge (“frightening specter, scarecrow”) (whence partly bug), of uncertain origin: perhaps from obsolete Welsh bwg (“ghost, hobgoblin”) (compare Welsh bwgwl (“threat”, older “fear”), Irish bagairt (“threat”)), from Proto-Celtic [Term?], or from Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”) (compare Norwegian bugge (“big man”), dialectal Low German Bögge and Alemannic German Böögg (“goblin”, “snot”)); see also Proto-Germanic *pūkô (“a goblin, spook”), whence obsolete English puck. Perhaps the Middle English and Welsh words come from a word related to buck and originally referred to a goat-shaped specter. Compare also booger.
The golf sense is from the devil as an imaginary player.


bogey

Alternative spelling of bogie (“one of two sets of wheels under a locomotive or railcar; also, a structure with axles and wheels under a locomotive, railcar, or semi which provides support and reduces vibration for the vehicle”)

bogie

Alternative spelling of bogie (“hand-operated truck or trolley”)

Upgrading the tram bogeys to air-conditioned bogeys costs the State Government approximately INR 25,00,000/- per bogey.

2020 January 30, “Upgrading Kolkata's Tram Network”, in C40 Cities, archived from the original on 2024-02-25:

(British, dated, India, rail transport) Alternative spelling of bogie (“railway carriage”)


ward

en-noun

ward (countable and uncountable, plural wards)

→ Swahili: wodi

From Middle English ward, warde, from Old English weard (“watching, ward, protection, guardianship; advance post; waiting for, lurking, ambuscade”), from Proto-West Germanic *wardu, from Proto-Germanic *wardō (“protection, attention, keeping”), an extension of the stem *wara- (“attentive”) (English wary, beware), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to cover”).
Cognate with German Warte (“watchtower”), warten (“wait for”); English guard is a parallel form which came via Old French.

inh

(fantasy) An enchantment or spell placed over a designated area or social unit, that prevents any tresspasser from entering; approaching; or even being able to locate said protected premises or demographic.


magus

la-noun

magus m (genitive magī); second declension

magī (genitive)
magus (nominative singular)
magī (nominative plural)
magī (genitive singular)
magōrum (genitive plural)
magō (dative singular)
magīs (dative plural)
magum (accusative singular)
magōs (accusative plural)
magō (ablative singular)
magīs (ablative plural)
mage (singular vocative)
magī (plural vocative)

→ Dutch: magiër

→ English: Magi, mage, magus

Catalan: magi

French: mage

→ Hungarian: mágus

Italian: mago

Piedmontese: mago

Portuguese: mago

Romanian: mag

→ Spanish: mago

→ Cebuano: mago

From Ancient Greek μάγος (mágos, “magician”), from Μάγος (Mágos, “Magian”), of an indeterminate Old Iranian origin (see Μάγος (Mágos) for details).

(figuratively) magician, wizard, (derogatory) sorcerer, trickster, conjurer, charlatan


monstrum

mōnstrum n (genitive mōnstrī); second declension

mōnstrum (canonical neuter)
mōnstrī (genitive)
mōnstrum (nominative singular)
mōnstra (nominative plural)
mōnstrī (genitive singular)
mōnstrōrum (genitive plural)
mōnstrō (dative singular)
mōnstrīs (dative plural)
mōnstrum (accusative singular)
mōnstra (accusative plural)
mōnstrō (ablative singular)
mōnstrīs (ablative plural)
mōnstrum (singular vocative)
mōnstra (plural vocative)

Catalan: monstre

→ Esperanto: monstro

Galician: monstro

Italian: mostro

desctree

Old French: monstre, mostre, moustre
→ Middle English: monstre, moustre
English: monster
Scots: monster
Middle French: monstre
French: monstre
→ Romanian: monstru
Norman: monstre
→ Middle Dutch: monster
Dutch: monster

Portuguese: monstro

Spanish: monstruo

→ Albanian: moshtrë, monstër

[ˈmõːs̠t̪rʊ̃ˑ]

From Proto-Italic *monestrom. Equivalent to moneō (“advise, warn”) + -trum (suffix forming instrument nouns).

suffix

(fantasy, mythology) a divine omen indicating misfortune, an evil omen, portent


גולם

he-noun

גולם / גֹּלֶם • (gólem) m (plural indefinite גְּלָמִים, plural construct גָּלְמֵי־) [pattern: קֹטֶל]

גֹּלֶם (canonical)
gólem (romanization)
גְּלָמִים (indefinite plural)
גָּלְמֵי־ (construct plural)

(mythology, Jewish folklore) a golem, a clay automaton


גולם

yi-noun

גולם • (goylem) m, plural גולמס (goylems) or גולמים (goylomem)

goylem (romanization)
goylems (romanization)
goylomem (romanization)

bor

גולם \ גֹּלֶם


monstre

English: monster

Scots: monster

Borrowed from Old French monstre, borrowed itself from Latin monstrum.

(rare) Fate, luck; fortuitousness (as an allegorical figure)


ghoul

Portuguese: ghoul

From Persian غول (ğul) from Arabic غُول (ḡūl). Compare French goule, of the same origin.

(derogatory, slang) A person with a callous or uncaring attitude to human life and suffering, particularly when prioritizing economic concerns.


golem

גולם \ גֹּלֶם

(by extension, fantasy) A humanoid creature made from any previously inanimate matter, such as wood or stone, animated by magic.


golem

גולם \ גֹּלֶם

(mythology) golem; a creature made from mud and clay and brought to life through magic


golem

golem (nominative singular)
golemy (nominative plural)
golema (genitive singular)
golemów (genitive plural)
golemowi (dative singular)
golemom (dative plural)
golema (accusative singular)
golemy (accusative plural)
golemów (accusative plural)
golemem (instrumental singular)
golemami (instrumental plural)
golemie (locative singular)
golemach (locative plural)
golemie (singular vocative)
golemy (plural vocative)

Borrowed from Hebrew גולם \ גֹּלֶם (gólem).

bor+

גולם \ גֹּלֶם


golem

גולם \ גֹּלֶם


zed

en-verb

zed (third-person singular simple present zeds, present participle zedding, simple past and past participle zedded)

zeds (present singular third-person)
zedding (participle present)
zedded (participle past)
zedded (past)

From Middle English zed, zedde, zede, from Old French zede, from Late Latin zeta, from Ancient Greek ζῆτα (zêta), from Hebrew ז (zayin) with influence from beta, eta and theta. Letter had rare nonstandard usage in Old English, such as in bezt, where it represented "ts" (compare the German, Italian, and Finnish pronunciation of Z). For the sleep sense, see zzz. The zombie sense comes from the initial letter. Doublet of zeta. Cognate to Spanish zeta, German Zett, French zède, Italian zeta, and perhaps Portuguese zê.

Zedding hogs. Sleep sippers and spitters. Look at 'em cooking in their own snoring heat. One nose after another.

I guess I must have zedded, for I find a police officer, the same one that nicked me, shaking me.

1992, David Robins, Tarnished vision: crime and conflict in the inner city:

"Zedding away." "God, I was having the most awful dream. That you'd got lost by the sea and I couldn't find you and something was chasing me, me and Evie."

(intransitive, informal) To sleep or nap. (Compare zzz, catch some z's.)


catoblepas

en-noun

catoblepas (plural catoblepae or catoblepones)

catoblepae (plural)
catoblepones (plural)

Borrowed from Latin catōblepās, from Ancient Greek κᾰτῶβλεψ (katôbleps), κᾰτωβλέπων (katōblépōn), κᾰτώβλεπον (katṓblepon, “down-looker”), from κᾰτᾰβλέπω (katablépō, “to look downwards”, from κᾰτᾰ́ (katá) + βλέπω (blépō)).

af

κᾰτᾰ́ (katá) + βλέπω (blépō)

Behind them, blindfolded and muzzled, came catoblepones.

2019, Joel Puga, The Journeys of the Sorcerer:

The most obvious curseinflicting monsters that came to mind were Basilisks, Cockatrices, and Catoblepones.

2022, Patora Fuyuhara, In Another World With My Smartphone:

A legendary creature from Ethiopia, said to have the body of a Cape buffalo, scales on its back, and the head of a wild boar, which always points downward because of its weight.


broomstick

Witches of all ages attended these lively gatherings by flying away on their broomsticks[.]

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 106:

She really was a witch now. No one but a witch could fly a broomstick.

Harry ripped the parcel open and gasped as a magnificent, gleaming broomstick rolled out onto his bedspread. [...] It was a Firebolt, identical to the dream broom Harry had gone to see every day in Diagon Alley.

1999, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, →ISBN:

Greebo, hiccuping occasionally, oozed into his accustomed place among the bristles of Nanny’s broomstick. As they rose above the forest a thin plume of smoke also rose from the castle.

2002, Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad, page 97:

Most people are familiar with the age-old superstition that witches fly on broomsticks to their covens (though they were formerly also reputed to use shovels, cleft sticks, eggshells, ANIMALS and other means of flight).

2003, David Pickering, Cassell's Dictionary of Superstitions:

A broom imbued with magic, enabling one to fly astride the handle.

(military slang) A controlstick of an airplane.

Gangdem known for the shootings, go ask Ramz – got whooshed with a broomstick.

2020 January 19, Sin Squad & Mloose (lyrics and music), “Don't Ride Back”:


broomstick

en-verb

broomstick (third-person singular simple present broomsticks, present participle broomsticking, simple past and past participle broomsticked)

broomsticks (present singular third-person)
broomsticking (participle present)
broomsticked (participle past)
broomsticked (past)

BATTY: But, Mother Witch, I want to go broomsticking, too.

1955, Grade Teacher, volume 73, page 14:

Cynthia the Witch, whenever she broomsticked back into town would not even be given the chance to lay eyes on my machine or my clothes.

2006, Brandi Scollins-Mantha, Floaters, page 75:

(intransitive) To fly on a broomstick, as witches are said to.


mugglare

mugglare (indefinite nominative singular)
mugglares (genitive indefinite singular)
mugglaren (definite nominative singular)
mugglarens (definite genitive singular)
mugglare (indefinite nominative plural)
mugglares (genitive indefinite plural)
mugglarna (definite nominative plural)
mugglarnas (definite genitive plural)


klonken

klonkarna (plural)
klonken (definite nominative singular)
klonkarna (definite nominative plural)


bludger

A ball used in the sports of Quidditch and Muggle Quidditch.


gryps

la-noun

grȳps m (genitive grȳpis); third declension

grȳps (canonical masculine)
grȳpis (genitive)
grȳps (nominative singular)
grȳpēs (nominative plural)
grȳpes (nominative plural)
grȳpis (genitive singular)
grȳpium (genitive plural)
grȳpī (dative singular)
grȳpibus (dative plural)
grȳpem (accusative singular)
grȳpēs (accusative plural)
grȳpīs (accusative plural)
grypas (accusative plural)
grȳpe (ablative singular)
grȳpibus (ablative plural)
grȳps (singular vocative)
grȳpēs (plural vocative)
grȳpes (plural vocative)

Asturian: grifu

Catalan: griu, grif, grifó

Danish: grib

Italian: grifone, grifo

Norwegian: gribb

desctree

Old French: griffon, gripun, gripoun
Middle English: griffoun, griphon, grefoun, gryffoun, gryffone, gryffon, grifown, griphonne, gryffyn, griffone, grefyne
English: griffin, griffon, gryphon
French: griffon

Old High German: grifo
Middle High German: grīfe
German: Greif

Old Irish: gríb
Irish: gríobh
Manx: greeu
Scottish Gaelic: grib

Portuguese: grifo

Spanish: grifo


draconic

en-adj

draconic (comparative more draconic, superlative most draconic)

more draconic (comparative)
most draconic (superlative)

From Latin Dracō (stem Dracōn-) + -ic, after the Athenian lawmaker Draco, known for making harsh laws.

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-draconic.wav

[…] they no land / Doomed to bewail the blasphemy of laws / Making kings' rights divine, by some Draconic clause.

1818, Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto 3, Stanza 64:

The sexual instinct can hardly be changed by prescriptions; I doubt whether all laws against homosexual intercourse, even the most draconic, have ever been able to extinguish the peculiar desire of anybody born with homosexual tendencies.

1932, Edvard Westermarck, chapter VIII, in Ethical Relativity, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co, page 248:

In the first months after the October Revolution Lenin was already demanding "the most decisive, draconic measures to tighten up discipline."

1974, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, translated by Thomas P. Whitney, The Gulag Archipelago, Harper & Row, published 1973, Vol. 2, Part III, pp. 9-10:

(rare, dated) Very severe or strict; draconian.


seeker

From Middle English sekar, sekere (also sechar, sechere), equivalent to seek + -er. Compare Saterland Frisian Säiker (“seeker”), West Frisian syker (“seeker”), Dutch zoeker (“seeker”), German Low German Söker (“seeker”), German Sucher (“seeker”).

In Quidditch or Muggle quidditch, the player who is supposed to to catch the snitch.


hippocentaurus

la-noun

hippocentaurus m (genitive hippocentaurī); second declension

hippocentaurī (genitive)
hippocentaurus (nominative singular)
hippocentaurī (nominative plural)
hippocentaurī (genitive singular)
hippocentaurōrum (genitive plural)
hippocentaurō (dative singular)
hippocentaurīs (dative plural)
hippocentaurum (accusative singular)
hippocentaurōs (accusative plural)
hippocentaurō (ablative singular)
hippocentaurīs (ablative plural)
hippocentaure (singular vocative)
hippocentaurī (plural vocative)

→ English: hippocentaur

→ French: hippocentaure

[hɪpːɔkɛn̪ˈt̪äu̯rʊs̠]

From Ancient Greek ἱπποκένταυρος (hippokéntauros).

der

ἱπποκένταυρος


keeper

From Middle English kepere, equivalent to keep + -er.

England should have capitalised on their growing momentum to win, but Darren Bent failed to reproduce the finishing touches that have brought him goals in three successive appearances. He was blocked by Diego Benaglio when he was played in by Wilshere then blazed over the top of an open goal late on after Young's shot was saved by Switzerland's keeper.

2011 June 4, Phil McNulty, “England 2 - 2 Switzerland”, in BBC:

(sports) The player charged with guarding a goal or wicket. Short form of goalkeeper, wicketkeeper. In quidditch (both Muggle quidditch and the game in the original Harry Potter series), this is someone responsible for guarding the three goalposts.


beater

From Middle English beter, betere, bettere, from Old English bēatere (“a beater; boxer, fighter; champion”), equivalent to beat + -er. Related to beetle (“a type of mallet”).

inh

In the sport of Quidditch or Muggle quidditch, a player who attempts to hit the opposing team's players with bludgers and to block the bludgers from hitting their own team's players.


wyvern

Alteration of Middle English wyver (“viper”), borrowed from Old Northern French wivre, from Latin vīpera (“viper; snake, serpent”). Doublet of weever and viper.

The jargon of heraldry, its griffins, its moldwarps, its wyverns, and its dragons.

1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:

Notions of freedom are tied up in drink / Our ideal life contains a tavern / Where man may sit and talk of or just think / All without fear of the nighted wyvern, / Or yet another tavern where it appears.

1940-54 The Collected Poetry of Malcolm Lowry, "WE SIT UNHACKLED DRUNK AND MAD TO EDIT", UBC Press,1992, p.222

(heraldry, mythology, fantasy) A draconian creature possessing wings, only two legs and usually a barbed tail.


chaser

Inherited from Middle English chaser, chacer, chasour, borrowed from Old French chaceür, chaceor, from chacier (“to chase, hunt”); later senses from or influenced by chase (“pursue”) + -er. Doublet of chasseur.

преследва́ч

person or thing (ship, plane, car, etc.) who chases

(fiction, Harry Potter) In the sport of Quidditch or Muggle quidditch, a player responsible for passing the quaffle and scoring goals with it.


vampire

desc

ভ্যাম্পায়ার

→ Bengali: ভ্যাম্পায়ার (bhêmpaẏar)

→ Irish: vaimpír

→ Japanese: ヴァンパイア (vanpaia), バンパイア (banpaia)

→ Marathi: व्हॅम्पायर (vhĕmpāyar)

→ Thai: แวมไพร์ (wɛm-paai)

→ Scottish Gaelic: bhampair

→ Swahili: vampiri

→ Turkish: vampir

→ Welsh: fampir

From French vampire, from German Vampir, via Hungarian from a Slavic word, probably Serbo-Croatian вампир (vàmpīr), proposed to be a variant of unattested *upir, from Proto-Slavic *ǫpyrь, q.v. Compare Russian упы́рь (upýrʹ), Polish upiór, Polish wąpierz, etc. Doublet of oupire.

(colloquial) A person with the medical condition Porphyria cutanea tarda, colloquially known as vampirism, with effects such as photosensitivity and brownish-red stained teeth.


snitch

Origin uncertain. Perhaps an alteration of Middle English snacche (“a trap, snare”), snacchen (“to seize (prey)”, whence modern English snatch). Compare also Middle English snik snak (“a sudden blow, snap”). Alternatively, perhaps from a dialectal variant of sneak, from Middle English sniken, from Old English snīcan (“to creep; crawl”). More at sneak.

cog

A ball used in the sport of Quidditch: the Golden Snitch.


hippocampus

en-noun

hippocampus (plural hippocampi or hippocampuses)

hippocampi (plural)
hippocampuses (plural)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-hippocampus.wav

From Late Latin hippocampus, from Ancient Greek ἱππόκαμπος (hippókampos, from ῐ̔́ππος (híppos, “horse”) + κάμπος (kámpos, “sea-monster”)). The anatomy sense is so named from its resemblance to the seahorse.

der

(mythology) A mythological creature with the front head and forelimbs of a horse and the rear of a dolphin.


lycanthrope

From Ancient Greek λυκάνθρωπος (lukánthrōpos).

More generally, any sort of werecreature.


lycanthrope

fr-noun

lycanthrope m or f by sense (plural lycanthropes)

From Ancient Greek λυκάνθρωπος (lukánthrōpos, “human-wolf”).


versipellis

la-noun

versipellis m (genitive versipellis); third declension

versipellis (genitive)
versipellis (nominative singular)
versipellēs (nominative plural)
versipellis (genitive singular)
versipellium (genitive plural)
versipellī (dative singular)
versipellibus (dative plural)
versipellem (accusative singular)
versipellēs (accusative plural)
versipellīs (accusative plural)
versipelle (ablative singular)
versipellibus (ablative plural)
versipellis (singular vocative)
versipellēs (plural vocative)

→ Italian: versipelle (learned)

[u̯ɛrs̠ɪˈpɛlːʲɪs̠]

From vertō (“turn”) + pellis (“skin, hide”).

(fantasy, mythology) a werewolf, lycanthrope


werewolf

From Middle English werwolf, from Old English werewulf, from Proto-West Germanic *werawulf, from Proto-West Germanic *wer (“man”) + *wulf (“wolf”). By surface analysis, were- + wolf. Cognate with Dutch weerwolf, Low German Warwulf, German Werwolf, Danish varulv, Swedish varulv, and even possibly Finnish vironsusi.
Compare also French garou, in loup-garou, French dialectal gairou, varou (“werewolf”), Medieval Latin gerulphus, garulphus (“werewolf”), all from Germanic, probably Frankish *werawulf.

Near-synonym: dogman

(mythology) A person who is transformed or can transform into a wolf or a wolflike human, often said to do so during a full moon.


ouroboros

en-noun

ouroboros (plural ouroboroi or ouroboroses)

From Ancient Greek οὐροβόρος (ourobóros, “tail-devouring”, a compound of οὐρά (ourá, “tail”) + -βόρος (-bóros, “-devouring”, which is derived from the verb βιβρώσκω (bibrṓskō, “to eat up”))).

af

which is derived from the verb <i class="Polyt mention" lang="grc">βιβρώσκω</i> (bibrṓskō, “to eat up”)

bor

The alchemists were fond of picturing their opus as a circulatory process, as a circular distillation or as the uroboros, the snake biting its own tail, and they made innumerable pictures of this process.

1968 [1951], R. F. C. Hull, transl., Aion […] (The Collected Works of C. G. Jung), 2nd edition, volume 9.2, Princeton University Press, translation of original by C. G. Jung, →ISBN, page 264:

Khepera eating his own seed is a model of Romantic creativity, where the self is isolated and sexually dual. Khepera bent over himself is a uroboros, the serpent eating its own tail, a magic circle of regeneration and rebirth. The uroboros is the prehistoric track of natural cycle, from which Judaism and Hellenism make a conceptual break.

1990, Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae, Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 41:

One myth speaks of Ouroboros, a serpent-like creature that survived and regenerated itself by eating only its own tail. By neither taking from nor adding to its environment, this creature was said to be completely environmentally benign and self-sufficient.

2004, Adrian Bejan et al., Porous and Complex Flow Structures in Modern Technologies, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 121:

First, the snake has not caught its tail—the ouroboros figure is uncompleted. Blake executed fully formed ouroboros figures for the verso of this Night Thoughts page and for a later passage (6:690-92), and was familiar with numerous full ouroboros figures from contemporary and earlier sources […]

2013, Jackie DiSalvo, G. A. Rosso, Christopher Z. Hobson eds., Blake, Politics, and History, Routledge, →ISBN:

(mythology) A serpent, dragon or worm that eats its own tail, a representation of the continuous cycle of life and death.

أوربوروس

a serpent, dragon or worm that eats its own tail


undead

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-undead.wav

From Middle English undede, equivalent to un- + dead. The first attestation is from around 1400. Usage as a noun is attested from the early 20th century onwards.

Pertaining to a corpse, though having qualities of life.

When Anna and John finally break out of their self-centered bubbles to the shock that they must battle to the death an undead neighbor in a giant snowman costume, it plays like a poignant comment on movie teenagers' tendency to indulge their inner lives, ignorant of the world around them.

2018 November 27, April Wolfe, “Anna And The Apocalypse is a Holiday-horror Cocktail of Singing, Maiming, and Clichés”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2019-11-04:

(horror fiction) Being animate, though non-living.


undead

In the zombie movie, an army of the undead accosted some unsuspecting teenagers.

"Were another of the Un-Dead, like him, to try to do what he has done, perhaps not all the centuries of the world that have been, or that will be, could aid him."

1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, New York: Doubleday & McClure, published 1899, page xxiv. 319:

Harley got devoured by the undead / Lurking down in some old wizard's tomb / You can say there's no such thing as zombies / But that's how Harley Warren met his doom

2006, The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, “Harley Got Devoured by the Undead”, in An Even Scarier Solstice:

It’s an episode of characters returning to their own pasts as different people. They can retrench like Cersei, back on her bullshit, I mean, warpath. Or they can adapt, like The Hound. Neither way necessarily ensures success, but we know the archmaester isn’t unequivocally right. We’ve seen dragons reborn and armies of the undead. I wouldn’t be so sure that Wall will stand forever.

2017 July 16, Brandon Nowalk, “Chickens and dragons come home to roost on Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club:

(horror fiction) Those creatures which are undead; that is, dead yet still animate.

nemrtvý

those creatures which are dead but still animate


undead

en-noun

undead (plural undead or (rare) undeads)

"You will do me a service," the undead said to him.

Innocent VIII lent credibility to the actual existence of undeads, an action that perpetuated, and even stimulated, vampire hysteria.

1997, Carol Margaret Davison, Paul Simpson-Housley, Bram Stoker's Dracula: sucking through the century, 1897-1997:

(horror fiction) A creature that is undead; that is, dead but still animate.


haunted

en-adj

haunted (comparative more haunted, superlative most haunted or hauntedest)

more haunted (comparative)
most haunted (superlative)
hauntedest (superlative)

The hotel was haunted by a disembodied spirit.

Of a location, frequented by a ghost or ghosts.


kitsune

(Japanese mythology) A Japanese fox spirit, often but not exclusively female, said to have powers such as shape-shifting, and whose power is symbolized by increase in number of tails.


tanuki

Borrowed from Japanese 狸(たぬき) (tanuki, “raccoon dog”).

(Japanese mythology) A folkloric figure in the form of a tanuki, regarded as a shapeshifter and renowned for its enormous scrotum and testicles.


lycanthropy

en-noun

lycanthropy (usually uncountable, plural lycanthropies)

From Ancient Greek λυκανθρωπία (lukanthrōpía), from λυκάνθρωπος (lukánthrōpos, “wolfman”). By surface analysis, lycanthrope + -y.

uder

(mythology) The state of being a lycanthrope (or werewolf), a person who can shapeshift between the form of a human being and a wolf, often said to happen involuntarily during a full moon; werewolfdom.


specter

From French spectre, from Latin spectrum (“appearance, apparition”). Doublet of spectrum.

der

A specter haunted the cemetery at the old Vasquez manor.

A ghostly apparition, a phantom. [from 17th c.]


magic wand

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-magic wand.wav

A wand, usually made of wood, that is used to perform magic.


mag

mag (nominative singular)
magowie (nominative plural)
magi (derogatory nominative plural)
maga (genitive singular)
magów (genitive plural)
magowi (dative singular)
magom (dative plural)
maga (accusative singular)
magów (accusative plural)
magiem (instrumental singular)
magami (instrumental plural)
magu (locative singular)
magach (locative plural)
magu (singular vocative)
magowie (plural vocative)
magi (derogatory plural vocative)

(folklore, fantasy) magician, wizard, sorcerer, conjurer, mage, magus (person who plays with or practices allegedly supernatural magic)


mucha

pl-noun

mucha f (diminutive muszka, augmentative muszysko, related adjective muszy)

muszka (diminutive)
muszysko (augmentative)
muszy (adjective)
mucha (nominative singular)
muchy (nominative plural)
muchy (genitive singular)
much (genitive plural)
musze (dative singular)
muchom (dative plural)
muchę (accusative singular)
muchy (accusative plural)
muchą (instrumental singular)
muchami (instrumental plural)
musze (locative singular)
muchach (locative plural)
mucho (singular vocative)
muchy (plural vocative)


Count Dracula

The fictional vampire in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.

काउंट ड्रॅक्यूला

kāuṇṭa ḍrĕkyūlā


giant

/ˈd͡ʒʌɪ.ənt/

[ˈd͡ʒəɪ̯(ə)nt]

From Middle English geaunt, geant, from Old French geant, gaiant (Modern French géant) from Vulgar Latin *gagās, gagant-, from Latin gigās, gigant-, from Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas, “giant”) Cognate to giga- (“1,000,000,000”). Displaced native Old English ent. Compare Modern English ent (“giant tree-man”).

Any of the gigantes, the race of giants in the Greek mythology.

(mythology, fantasy) Specifically:
A jotun.


seaman

From Middle English seeman, seman, from Old English sǣmann. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Seemon (“seaman, sailor”), West Frisian seeman (“seaman, sailor”), Dutch zeeman (“seaman, sailor”), German Low German Seemann (“seaman, sailor”), German Seemann (“seaman, sailor”), Swedish sjöman (“seaman, sailor”), Norwegian sjømann (“seaman, sailor”). Equivalent to sea + -man.

cog

petty officer third class
petty officer third class

(US, Navy) An enlisted rate in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard, ranking below petty officer third class and above seaman apprentice.


kraken

Borrowed from Norwegian kraken (Bokmål entry; Nynorsk entry), definite singular of krake (“sea monster”) (Bokmål entry; Nynorsk entry), both from Old Norse kraki (“sea monster”, literally “something twisted”), from Proto-Germanic *krankaz (“crooked”).


kraken

kraken (nominative singular)
krakena (genitive singular)
krakenowi (dative singular)
krakena (accusative singular)
krakenem (instrumental singular)
krakenie (locative singular)
krakenie (singular vocative)


puck

→ Danish: puck

→ German: Puck

→ Swedish: puck

From or influenced by Irish poc (“stroke in hurling, bag”). Compare poke (1861).

(computing) A pointing device with a crosshair.


Dracula

Dracula
Order of the Dragon
Vlad II Dracul
Vlad the Impaler

From the name Vlad III Dracula (also known as Vlad Țepeș (“Vlad the Impaler”)), from the name of his father Vlad II Dracul, who was given the name Dracul by the Order of the Dragon. Dracul (literally “the Devil”) comes from the Romanian drac (“devil”), itself deriving from the Latin dracō (“dragon”).

(fiction) The fictional vampire in the novel of the same name by Bram Stoker.


Drache

de-proper noun

Drache m (proper noun, weak, genitive Drachen)

From Middle High German trache, from Old High German trahho, from Proto-West Germanic *drakō, borrowed from Latin dracō. The modern initial d- is influenced by the original Latin, reinforced by dialectal German forms.


orc

From Middle French orque, Italian orca, and their source, Latin orca (“type of whale”). Doublet of orca.

(archaic) Any of several large, ferocious sea creatures, now especially the killer whale.


orc

→ Catalan: orc

→ Czech: ork

→ Danish: ork

→ Dutch: ork

→ Estonian: örk

→ Finnish: örkki

→ French: orc

→ Georgian: ორკი (orḳi)

→ Greek: ορκ (ork)

→ Hungarian: ork

→ Icelandic: orki

→ Japanese: オーク (ōku)

→ Korean: 오크 (okeu)

→ Latvian: orks

→ Lithuanian: orkas

→ Marathi: ऑर्क (ŏrka)

→ Norwegian: ork, orc

→ Polish: ork

→ Portuguese: orc

→ Romanian: orc

→ Russian: орк (ork)

→ Serbo-Croatian: ork / орк

→ Swedish: ork

→ Ukrainian: орк (ork)

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
J. R. R. Tolkien
orc

Probably from Italian orco (“man-eating giant”); later revived by J. R. R. Tolkien, partly after Old English orc, which he took to mean "demon". Both are from Latin Orcus (“the underworld; the god Pluto”). Doublet of ogre and Orcus.
Sense 2 is a semantic loan from Ukrainian орк (ork, “evil monstrous humanoid creature; orc”) or Russian орк (ork), both from the English word and possibly under the influence of Russian у́рка (úrka, “criminal”, prison slang). Popularized in English in 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

m+

Who at one stroke didst pare away three heads from off the shoulders of an Orke, begotten by an Incubus.

1656, Samuel Holland, Don Zara del Fogo, I.1:

The chief exploit of the hero, Beowulf the Great, is the destruction of the two monsters Grendel and his mother; both like most of the evil beings in the old times, dwellers in the fens and the waters; and both, moreover, as some Christian bard has taken care to inform us, of "Cain's kin," as were also the eotens, and the elves, and the orcs (eótenas, and ylfe, and orcneas).

1834, "The National Fairy Mythology of England" in Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Vol. 10, p. 53

There was a flash like flame and the helm burst asunder. The orc fell with cloven head.

1954, JRR Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring:

(fantasy, mythology) A mythical evil monstrous humanoid creature, usually quite aggressive and often green.

Ukrainians themselves, including those on the right, preferred to call the events the 'Revolution of Dignity', depicted not in terms of ethnicity or class, but in simple civic black and white – a revolution of the people against Yanukovych's 'Mordor' and his 'Orcs'.

2015, Andrew Wilson, The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation, page 354:

And now we must watch the old world go up in flames, in the mad spectacle of Putin’s orcs descending upon Kyiv to execute his macabre plan.

2022 March 1, Bruno Maçães, “Europe’s Illusion of Peace Has Been Irrevocably Shattered”, in Time:

Plenty of Belarusian exiles have gone to Europe, but if you run West, then the Orcs [a Ukrainian slang term for "Russian soldiers"] will just follow you there. It's better to risk your life as a free person than to keep running.

2022 July 25, Michael Wasiura, “Belarusian Exiles Join Ukrainians in Taking Up Arms Against Russia”, in Newsweek, retrieved 2022-07-25:

(slang, derogatory) A Russian soldier or gangster.


orc

Unadapted borrowing from English orc. Doublet of ogro and orco.

(fantasy) orc (evil, monstrous humanoid creature)


Grim Reaper

/ˈɡɹɪm ˈɹiː.pə/

/ˈɡɹɪm ˈɹi.pɚ/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Grim Reaper.wav

From grim + reaper, first attested 1847. The word grim previously had a stronger meaning ("fierce, angry, sinister") and had more of an association with ghostliness (compare Old English grima (“specter, apparition”), English grim (n.)). The association between grim and death dates back to at least the late 16th century (the line "grim death, how foul and loathsome is thine image" appears in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew around 1590). The reaper element comes from the personification of Death as a reaper (harvester) of souls in connection to to the popular depiction of Death wielding a scythe. The symbol of the scythe itself comes from a partially unintentional conflation of Cronus (the Titan associated with the harvest, said to have used his scythe to castrate his father Uranus) and Chronos (the personification of Father Time).

cog

Her husband was dead, and Werper fancied that he could replace in the girl’s heart the position which had been vacated by the act of the grim reaper.

1916, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar:

"Golly, I feel like the devil!" muttered Anthony dispassionately. Relaxing, he tumbled back upon his pillow. "Bring on your grim reaper!"

1922, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, book 2, page 220:

Mary, will you be mine? Shall we go round together? Will you fix up a match with me on the links of life which shall end only when the Grim Reaper lays us both a stymie?

1922, P. G. Wodehouse, The Clicking of Cuthbert:

On the one hand, we had a scenario where, effectively, the American admiral just went "You know what, all the destroyers attack", at which point they mowed through the Japanese destroyers like a Grim Reaper through a harvest of very, very dead gorn, especially with the Brooklyns in support.

2019 March 6, Drachinifel, 25:58 from the start, in The Battle of Samar (Alternate History) - Bring on the Battleships!, archived from the original on 2022-07-04:

But that is the likely outcome if the railway waits for Treasury's grim reaper to come a-calling.

2021 January 13, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Make freight an equal priority”, in Rail, page 3:

A personification of Death as an old man, or a skeleton, carrying a scythe, taking souls to the afterlife.

Chronos
Cronus
The Taming of the Shrew
Uranus_(mythology)

стару́ха с косо́й f (starúxa s kosój, literally “old woman with scythe”)


Medusa

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Μέδουσα (Médousa), from μέδω (médō, “rule over”).


brownie

en-noun

brownie (countable and uncountable, plural brownies)

→ Belarusian: бра́ўні (bráŭni)

→ Chinese: 布朗尼 (bùlǎngní)

→ French: brownie

→ German: Brownie

→ Hungarian: brownie

→ Irish: donnóg (calque)

→ Italian: brownie

→ Japanese: ブラウニー (buraunī)

→ Lithuanian: braunis

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: brownie

→ Polish: brownie

→ Portuguese: brownie

→ Russian: бра́уни (bráuni)

→ Kazakh: брауни (brauni)

→ Spanish: brownie

→ Thai: บราวนี (bpraao-níi)

→ Turkish: brownie, browni, brovni

→ Welsh: browni

From brown + -ie (diminutive suffix). In folkloric sense, originally Scots.

Thus, offer Brownie a piece of bread, a cup of drink, or a new coat and hood, and he flouted at it, and perhaps, in his huff, quitted the place for ever ; but leave a nice bowl of cream, and some fresh honeycomb, in a snug private corner, and they soon disappeared, though Brownie, it was to be supposed, never knew any thing of them.

1828, Thomas Keightley, Fairy Mythology, volume II, page 169:

"Oh, auntie, do you know what Stine says?" cried a little brown-eyed beauty; "she says I shall go with her into the hayloft to-night and give the brownie his Christmas porridge."

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 5:

1908, Dinah Craik, The Adventures of A Brownie:

Stories were told of a brownie riding horseback to fetch the midwife at childbirth or helping his master to win at checkers.

1985, The Encyclopedia Americana, volume 1, page 636:

There are no brownies in my house, though. I know because there's always a pile of dishes in the sink.

2004, Justin Hocking, Jeffrey Knutson, Jared Jacang Maher, editors, Life and Limb: Skateboarders Write from the Deep End, page 37:

(folklore) A mythical creature, a helpful elf who would secretly do people's housework for them.

He rose and jingled in his pockets for change and drew out two brownies. He went and set one on each of Monroe’s eyes[.]

1997, Charles Frazier, chapter 2, in Cold Mountain, London: Hodder and Stoughton, page 36:

A copper coin, brown in colour; a penny, halfpenny, or cent.

Alternative letter-case form of Brownie (“a girl in the first level of Girl Guides (US: Girl Scouts)”).


zombie

First attested in 1871.
From a Bantu language. Compare Kongo nzambi (“god”), zumbi (“fetish”), and Kimbundu nzumbi (“ghost”) (see Portuguese zumbi), and Caribbean folklore's jumbee (“a spirit or demon”).
Origin from Spanish sombra (“shadow, phantom”) has also been suggested.
May have come through Louisiana Creole [Term?]. See also French zombi (1832).

Betsy Connell: I don't know about zombies, doctor. Just what is a zombie? / Dr. Maxwell: A ghost. A living dead. It's also a drink.

1943, Curt Siodmak, Ardel Wray, I Walked with a Zombie (motion picture):

The zombies were having fun
The party had just begun
The guests included Wolf-Man, Dracula, and his son.

1962, “Monster Mash”, Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Lenny Capizzi (lyrics), performed by Bobby (Boris) Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers:

Ashley: Dad passed on a few years back. He's probably still watching, though.
Shepard: He's not a zombie, is he?

2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: SSV Normandy:

The zombies first show up 20 minutes in, after Melanie volunteers herself as the next child to mysteriously disappear in the middle of the night. That’s when we learn that Melanie and her classmates are all “hungries,” or people infected with a toxic fungus that turns them into mindless flesh-eating animals.

2017 February 23, Katie Rife, “The Girl With All The Gifts tries to put a fresh spin on overripe zombie clichés”, in The Onion AV Club:

(voodoo, horror) A person, usually undead, animated by unnatural forces (such as magic), with no soul or will of his or her own.


zombie

Unadapted borrowing from English zombie.

(fiction) zombie (deceased person who becomes reanimate to attack the living)


קווידיץ׳

he-noun

קְווִידִיץ׳ • (kwidich) m

קְווִידִיץ׳ (canonical)
kwidich (romanization)


הוגוורטס

he-proper noun

הוֹגווֹרטְס • (Hogworts) m

הוֹגווֹרטְס (canonical)
Hogworts (romanization)


grip

grip (indefinite nominative singular)
grips (genitive indefinite singular)
gripen (definite nominative singular)
gripens (definite genitive singular)
gripar (indefinite nominative plural)
gripars (genitive indefinite plural)
griparna (definite nominative plural)
griparnas (definite genitive plural)

Gripen


ala

Ala je bilo lijepo!

Ala lažeš!

(used for emphasis, or as an intensifier) expression of awe, surprise, dismay, etc.


ala

sh-noun

ála or àla or ȁla f (Cyrillic spelling а́ла or а̀ла or а̏ла)

ála (canonical)
àla (canonical)
ȁla (canonical feminine)
а́ла (Cyrillic)
а̀ла (Cyrillic)
а̏ла (Cyrillic)

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *xala, unless borrowed from Ottoman Turkish آلا (ala, “spotted, variegated”), euphemistic for a snake.

bor

dragon, type of mythical creature similar to dragon


realm

From Middle English rewme, realme, reaume, from Old French reaume, realme (“kingdom”), of unclear origins. A postulated *rēgālimen (“domain, kingdom”), Late Latin or Vulgar Latin cross of regimen with rēgālis is usually cited.

And, of this island realm, he and his companion were the undisputed sovereigns.

1874, Horatio Alger, “Chapter XXXI”, in Brave and Bold:

1913, Leslie Alexander Toke, Catholic Encyclopedia, "St. Dunstan",
Then seeing his life was threatened he fled the realm and crossed over to Flanders, […]

(formal or law) A territory or state, as ruled by a specific power, especially by a king.

(fantasy, roleplaying games) An otherworldly dimension or domain — magical, ethereal, or otherwise — usually ruled or created by a mystical character.


狒々

狒々 (canonical)
狒々 (canonical)
hihi (romanization)

(Japanese mythology, folklore) a hihi (Japanese monkey-like yokai)


狒狒

/feɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ feɪ̯⁵¹/

/feɪ̯⁵¹ feɪ̯¹/

/fɐt̚⁵ fɐt̚⁵/

/fɐi̯²² fɐi̯²²/

/fɐi̯³³ fɐi̯³³/

/feɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ feɪ̯⁵¹/

/feɪ̯⁵¹ feɪ̯¹/

/fɐt̚⁵ fɐt̚⁵/

/fɐi̯²² fɐi̯²²/

/fɐi̯³³ fɐi̯³³/

(archaic, Chinese mythology) name of a monster mentioned in the Erya (爾雅)


đũa

head

đũa • (箸, 筷, 杜, 𥮊)

vi-noun

(classifier chiếc, cây) đũa • (箸, 筷, 杜, 𥮊)

chiếc (classifier)
cây (classifier)
箸 (CJK)
筷 (CJK)
杜 (CJK)
𥮊 (CJK)

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 箸 (“chopstick”, SV: trợ).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">trợ</i>

đũa cả

large flat chopstick used to serve rice from a pot

(by extension, folklore, fantasy) a wand


shade

en-noun

shade (countable and uncountable, plural shades)

From Middle English schade, from Old English sċeadu, sċadu (“shadow; shade”), from Proto-West Germanic *skadu, from Proto-Germanic *skadwaz (“shadow; shade”). More at shadow.

inh

Too long have I been haunted by that shade.

The adventurer was attacked by a shade.

Swift as thought the flitting shade / Thro' air his momentary journey made.

1700, [John] Dryden, “Ceyx and Alcyone”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

Still, Birch House (a sop to the shade of the murdered Perak Resident) had no more than its normal share of flagellation[.]

1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 39:

(chiefly literary and fantasy) A ghost or specter; a spirit.


saga

la-noun

sāga f (genitive sāgae); first declension

sāga (canonical feminine)
sāgae (genitive)
sāga (nominative singular)
sāgae (nominative plural)
sāgae (genitive singular)
sāgārum (genitive plural)
sāgae (dative singular)
sāgīs (dative plural)
sāgam (accusative singular)
sāgās (accusative plural)
sāgā (ablative singular)
sāgīs (ablative plural)
sāga (singular vocative)
sāgae (plural vocative)

Italian: saga

→ Translingual: Saga

Substantivisation of the female form of sāgus (“soothsaying”).

a female soothsayer, diviner, fortune-teller, prophetess, witch


מוגל

he-noun

מוּגְל • (mugl) m (plural indefinite מוּגְלְגִים)

מוּגְל (canonical)
mugl (romanization)
מוּגְלְגִים (indefinite plural)


麒麟

Ming Dynasty
Phono-semantic matching
Song Dynasty
Zheng He

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (麒麟):
* → Japanese: 麒(き)麟(りん) (kirin)
* → Korean: 기린(麒麟) (girin)
* → Vietnamese: kì lân (麒麟)

→ Thai: กิเลน (gì-leen)

→ Zhuang: geizlaenz, gizlinz

/t͡ɕʰi³⁵ lin³⁵/

/kʰei̯²¹ lɵn²¹/

/kʰei̯²¹ lɵn²¹⁻³⁵/

/kʰi²⁴⁻¹¹ lin²⁴/

/ki⁵³⁻³³ l̃iŋ⁵³/

/ki²⁴⁻²² lin²⁴/

/ki²⁴⁻¹¹ lin²⁴/

/ki¹³⁻²² lin¹³/

/ki²³⁻³³ lin²³/

/t͡ɕʰi³⁵ lin³⁵/

/kʰei̯²¹ lɵn²¹/

/kʰei̯²¹ lɵn²¹⁻³⁵/

/kʰi²⁴⁻¹¹ lin²⁴/

/ki⁵³⁻³³ l̃iŋ⁵³/

/ki²⁴⁻²² lin²⁴/

/ki²⁴⁻¹¹ lin²⁴/

/ki¹³⁻²² lin¹³/

/ki²³⁻³³ lin²³/

Old Chinese pronunciation for this word was *g(ɯ)-rin (Zhengzhang), and in pre-Qin times the beast was also referred to as
* 麟 (OC *rin),
* 麐 (OC *m·rin, *m·rins),
* 𪊓, or
* 蔽 (OC *peds),
the last two having been attested in the oracle bone script already.
There is much debate as to what animal the qilin beast was; some maintain that the qilin was a beast only found in mythology, even though it may have been based on some animal in pre-historic times, and some argue that the qilin was in reality the river deer, the ox or cow, or the Indian rhinoceros (Wang, 2009).
Janhunen (2011) tentatively compares 麒麟 (OC *ɡɯ rin) to a Northeast Asian etymon *kalimV, which denotes either "whale" or "mammoth"; however, he cautiously remarks that "[t]he formal and semantic similarity between *kilin < *gilin ~ *gïlin 'unicorn' and *kalimV 'whale' (but also Samoyedic *kalay- 'mammoth') is sufficient to support, though perhaps not confirm, the hypothesis of an etymological connection". He also notes a possible connection between Old Chinese and Mongolian (*)kers ~ (*)keris ~ (*)kiris "rhinoceros" (> Khalkha Mongolian хирс (xirs)).

Is it only among men that it is so? There is the Qilin among quadrupeds, the Fenghuang (phoenix) among birds, the Tai mountain among mounds and ant-hills, and rivers and seas among rain-pools. Though different in degree, they are the same in kind.

Qǐ wéi mín zāi? Qílín zhī yú zǒushòu, fènghuáng zhī yú fēiniǎo, Tàishān zhī yú qiūdié, hé hǎi zhī yú xíngliáo, lèi yě.

豈惟民哉？麒麟之於走獸，鳳凰之於飛鳥，太山之於丘垤，河海之於行潦，類也。

岂惟民哉？麒麟之于走兽，凤凰之于飞鸟，太山之于丘垤，河海之于行潦，类也。

(Chinese mythology) qilin (propitious mythological beast) (Classifier: 隻／只 m c mn)


麒麟

麒麟 (canonical)
麒麟 (canonical)
kirin (romanization)

From Old Japanese, in turn from Middle Chinese 麒麟 (MC gi lin). First cited in Japanese to the Nihon Shoki of 720.
The giraffe sense was probably based on a superficial resemblance between certain depictions of the mythical beast and the patterning and body shape of the real animal: a tailed, hoofed, and horned quadruped with a vaguely leopard-like spot pattern. First cited in Japanese to a text from 1798.

2010 May 23, Gosho Aoyama, “ＦＩＬＥ(ファイル).５(ご) [青](せい)[龍](りゅう) [FILE 5: Azure Dragon]”, in 名(めい)探(たん)偵(てい)コナン [Legendary Detective Conan], volume 68 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN:

That’s giraffe(kirin) the animal! The qilin(kirin) we’re talking about… has a deer-like body covered in golden scales, with a cow’s tail and a horse’s hooves, and with a single horn growing from its dragonish head… It’s a mythical beast from Chinese legends!

それは動物のキリン！問題の麒麟は…全身が黄色い鱗で覆われていて、姿は鹿、牛の尾と馬の蹄を持ち、龍に似た頭から１本角が生えてる…中国の伝説上の神獣だよ！

Sore wa dōbutsu no kirin! Mondai no kirin wa… Zenshin ga kiiroi uroko de ōwarete ite, sugata wa shika, ushi no o to uma no hizume o mochi, ryū ni nita atama kara ippon tsuno ga haete ru… Chūgoku no densetsu jō no shinjū da yo!

麒麟, 騏驎: (mythology, Chinese mythology) a qilin


fantasma

→ Cebuano: pantasma

Borrowed from Latin phantasma, from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma, “image, phantom”), from φαντάζω (phantázō, “to make visible”), from φαίνω (phaínō, “to cause to appear, bring to light”). Compare Sicilian fantàsimu (“dumb”). Cognate with English phantom.

der

El fantasma de la ópera.


were-

Back-formation from werewolf (“man-wolf”), from Old English werewulf, derived from wer (“man”) + wulf (“wolf”).

back-form

lycanthrope, used with animal names to indicate a person who changes shape into that animal.


魑魅

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (魑魅):
* → Japanese: 魑魅(ちみ) (chimi)
* → Korean: 이매(魑魅) (imae)
* → Vietnamese: si mị (魑魅)

/ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩⁵⁵ meɪ̯⁵¹/

/t͡sʰiː⁵⁵ mei̯²²/

/ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩⁵⁵ meɪ̯⁵¹/

/t͡sʰiː⁵⁵ mei̯²²/

Chaos, Oddity, Block-stump, and Glutton were all cast out to the four frontiers, to ward off ill sprites and evil spirits.

Húndūn, Qióngqí, Táowù, Tāotiè, tóu zhū sì yì, yǐ yù chīmèi.

渾敦，窮奇，檮杌，饕餮，投諸四裔，以禦魑魅。

浑敦，穷奇，梼杌，饕餮，投诸四裔，以御魑魅。


魑魅

a demon formed from the spirit of mountains and forests

魑魅魍魎

魑魅魍魎 ちみもうりょう


vampiric

Vampirics kill to eat, not to play. Mostly.

2015, D. C. McGannon, C. Michael McGannon, Charlie Sullivan and the Monster Hunters: Council of the Hunters, page 18:

You should know Jakob; you are one of the oldest Vampirics we have here besides Braedon and me.

2020, Katlyne Marie, Unnatural, volume 1:

(fantasy) A vampire or vampire-like creature.


bard

(15th c.) from Scottish Gaelic bàrd, from Old Irish bard, from Proto-Celtic *bardos (“bard, poet”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- (“praise”), and reinforced by Latin bardus, borrowed from Celtic. Cognate with Latin grātus (“grateful, pleasant, delightful”), Sanskrit गृणाति (gṛṇāti, “calls, praises”), Old Church Slavonic жрьти (žrĭti, “to sacrifice”).

cog

I saw a bard work a bit of magic once. He brought up a volunteer from the audience, insulted him in rather colorful fashion, and then made the man forget the insults—and then he did the same trick all over again, twice more.”

2015 August 18, Tim Pratt, Pathfinder Tales: Reign of Stars, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 116:

"Having a bard would be even less helpful than having a second wizard, " John interjects.

2024 January 9, Kristy Boyce, Dungeons and Drama, Delacorte Press, →ISBN, page 66:

(roleplaying games, fantasy) A class of character that typically focuses on charisma, magic and supporting other players; a fantasy fiction character inspired by this archetype.


enano

es-adj

enano (feminine enana, masculine plural enanos, feminine plural enanas)

enana (feminine)
enanos (masculine plural)
enanas (feminine plural)

From Latin nānus, from Ancient Greek νᾶνος (nânos). Cognate with Portuguese anão. Compare English nano-.


enano

es-noun

enano m (plural enanos, feminine enana, feminine plural enanas)

enanos (plural)
enana (feminine)
enanas (feminine plural)

→ Cebuano: unano

→ Tagalog: unano


gollumish

en-adj

gollumish (comparative more gollumish, superlative most gollumish)

more gollumish (comparative)
most gollumish (superlative)

2003: "I do feel a bit Gollumish about it…" —alt.support.low-carb, 12 Nov 2003

2004: "With the gollumish Tony Blair never far away, urging him on, George W Bush doggedly climbed his own Mt Doom and thrust the Coalition of the Willing into the fire – along with a few thousand apparently expendable human lives." —The New Zealand Listener, Vol 191, "2003 reloaded", 27 Jan 2004

(informal) Having similar traits to the fictional character Gollum, including obsessiveness, sinisterness or talking in an unusual manner often punctuated by hissing sounds.


balrog

From Sindarin, a fictional language created by J.R.R. Tolkien, meaning something akin to "mighty demon".

The Balrog made no answer. The fire in it seemed to die, but the darkness grew. It stepped forward slowly on to the bridge, and suddenly it drew itself up to a great height, and its wings were spread from wall to wall […]

1954, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring:

What was released was a demon, a balrog of pure sexual energy which had been denied for too long.

2004, post on newsgroup, alt.sex.bondage:

[…] is just a big goofy Balrog as far as I'm concerned, he might make a "Green Dot" poster scared; the big dweeb.

2004, post on newsgroup, rec.skiing.alpine:

[And now, a warp-drive round of Confirm or Deny.][...]
Gandalf the Grey was cooler than Gandalf the White.
Hmm, that’s a tough one. I think in some ways he was cooler, but he kind of needed to defeat the Balrog in order to become a better wizard, I guess, and play a bigger role in defeating Sauron. But he was definitely more chill as Gandalf the Grey and had a better sense of humor.

2020 July 25, Maureen Dowd, Elon Musk, “Elon Musk, Blasting Off in Domestic Bliss”, in New York Times, archived from the original on 2020-07-25:


wraith

Borrowed from Middle Scots wraith, first attested in 1513 as a translation of the Aeneid.
The word has no certain etymology. J. R. R. Tolkien favored a link with writhe. Also compared are Scots warth and Old Norse vǫrðr (“watcher, guardian”), whence Icelandic vörður (“guard”). See also wray/bewray, from Middle English wreien. Perhaps from wrath as a wraith is a vengeful spirit.

We might indeed have been the wraiths of the departed dead upon the dead sea of that dying planet for all the sound or sign we made in passing.

1912 February–July, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Under the Moons of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as “Sola Tells Me Her Story”, in A Princess of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., 1917 October, →OCLC, pages 159–160:

Like wraiths with the impediments of bodies they stumbled in the direction of Salthill faces.

2001, Joyce Carol Oates, Middle Age: A Romance, paperback edition, Fourth Estate, page 80:

A ghost or specter, especially a person's likeness seen just after their death.

привидение

A ghost or specter, especially seen just after a person's death


pygmy

From Latin Pygmaeī, from Ancient Greek πυγμαῖος (pugmaîos, “a member of a race of dwarves”), from πυγμή (pugmḗ, “fist (as small as a fist)”).

der

Although Pygmies are relatively protected against gene flow from other populations, many Pygmy tribes show extensive gene replacement and few have remained relatively unaltered.

2018, Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, The History and Geography of Human Genes:

(often capitalized) A member of one of various Ancient Equatorial African tribal peoples, notable for their very short stature.

Ctesias lived in Persia for several years, as the personal physician of King Ataxerxes II, and would have had contact with travellers to India, and Indian visitors to Persia. He describes dog-headed humans, pygmy men who grow their beards so long that they can be used as clothes, and affirms that it never rains in India.

2015, Sam Miller, A Strange Kind of Paradise: India through Foreign Eyes:

(Greek mythology) A member of a race of dwarfs.

джудже

a member of a mythological race of dwarfs

It was so high up that the people walking about in the street below looked like pygmies.

2015, Rosie Harris, Moving On: A family saga set in 1970’s Liverpool:

(figuratively, derogatory, offensive) Any dwarfish person or thing.


pygmy

en-adj

pygmy (comparative more pygmy, superlative most pygmy)

more pygmy (comparative)
most pygmy (superlative)

Amongst foodgrains, as we travelled from the green South and East towards the dry North and West, the pygmy crop of rice gave way to the tall bajra and jowar.

1999, Ashok V. Desai, The Price of Onions, page 73:

Like a pygmy; unusually short or small for its kind.


loup-garou

en-noun

loup-garou (plural loup-garous or loups-garous)

loup-garous (plural)
loups-garous (plural)

/ˌlu.ɡəˈɹuː/

In this respect, it is always a full moon for a loup-garou. They are never more than half-sane to begin with, and they tend to become increasingly unstable over time.


loup-garou

fr-noun

loup-garou m (plural loups-garous, feminine louve-garou)

loups-garous (plural)
louve-garou (feminine)

→ English: loup-garou

Inherited from Old French leu garoul, a pleonastic compound of leu (“wolf”) + garoul (“werewolf”); the latter from garulf, from Frankish *werawulf. Equivalent to loup + -garou.


бес

ru-noun+

бес • (bes) m anim (genitive бе́са, nominative plural бе́сы, genitive plural бе́сов, relational adjective бесо́вский, diminutive бесёнок)

bes (romanization)
бе́са (genitive)
бе́сы (nominative plural)
бе́сов (genitive plural)
бесо́вский (adjective relational)
бесёнок (diminutive)
бе́с (nominative singular)
бе́сы (nominative plural)
бе́са (genitive singular)
бе́сов (genitive plural)
бе́су (dative singular)
бе́сам (dative plural)
бе́са (accusative singular)
бе́сов (accusative plural)
бе́сом (instrumental singular)
бе́сами (instrumental plural)
бе́се (prepositional singular)
бе́сах (plural prepositional)

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *běsъ (“evil spirit”).


waldo

From the Robert A. Heinlein story Waldo, published in Astounding in 1940, derived from the name of the eponymous protagonist, Waldo F. Jones, who invented remote manipulators to overcome his own myasthenia gravis.

Waldo flexed and extended his fingers gently; the two pairs of waldoes in the screen followed in exact, simultaneous parallelism.


Gandalf

From Old Norse mythology Gandalfr (“elf with a magic staff”).

A male given name from the Germanic languages known in history, and in the books of Tolkien, but not usually bestowed on children.


Sindarin

Developed by J. R. R. Tolkien as a language in his fantasy works, in which the word Sindarin itself is not of Sindarin origin: it is a term in Quenya (another of Tolkien's constructed languages), derived from Sindar, the Quenya name for the people who spoke it, which in turn is derived from sinda (“grey”).

constructed language
constructed language

A constructed language, partly inspired by Welsh, spoken by certain elves and others in J. R. R. Tolkien's works.


Tolkien

Likely from Middle Low German Tolkin (literally “son of Tolk”), which is probably also related to Polish Tołkiny and German Tolksdorf, names for a Prussian town; the nickname Tolk is connected to Middle Low German tolk (“interpreter”), from Proto-Slavic *tъlkъ. J. R. R. Tolkien subscribed to a folk etymology that connected the name with German tollkühn (“foolhardy”).

der

(countable) A surname.
British author J. R. R. Tolkien


Tolkien

Tolkien (nominative singular)
Tolkiena (genitive singular)
Tolkienowi (dative singular)
Tolkiena (accusative singular)
Tolkienem (instrumental singular)
Tolkienie (locative singular)
Tolkienie (singular vocative)


Middle-earth

Alternative form of Middle Earth: the Earth.


Gollum

A fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. In the story, he was originally known as Sméagol and later named Gollum after his habit of making "a horrible swallowing noise in his throat".
The name, Sméagol, comes from Old English smeagan (“to burrow”).

A person who bears the traits or has the characteristics of Gollum in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth.


minotaur

/ˈmɪnəˌtɔː(ɹ)/

/ˈmaɪnəˌtɑɹ/

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Μινώταυρος (Minṓtauros), from Μίνως (Mínōs, “Minos, king of Crete”) + ταῦρος (taûros, “bull”).

af

(Greek mythology) Alternative letter-case form of Minotaur

مَنْطُور

monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man


nicker

From Middle English niker, from Old English nicor, from Proto-Germanic *nikwis. Cognate with German Nix (“water demon”) and German Nixe (“mermaid”); also related to Old Norse nykr (“water demon”) (see there for further descendants). Doublet of nix.

And in another tale, told at Kemnitz of the Nicker, as he is there called, when he asks the midwife how much he owes her, she answers that she will take no more from him than from other people.

1891, Edwin Sidney Hartland, The Science of Fairy Tales, page 48:

A type of mythological sea creature or sea monster; also, a water sprite; a nix or nixie; a mermaid or merman.


dwarf

From Middle English dwergh, dwerw, dwerf, from Old English dweorg, from Proto-West Germanic *dwerg, from Proto-Germanic *dwergaz.
Cognate with Scots dwerch; Old High German twerc (German Zwerg); Old Norse dvergr (Swedish dvärg); Old Frisian dwirg (West Frisian dwerch); Middle Low German dwerch, dwarch, twerg (German Low German Dwarg, Dwarch); Middle Dutch dwerch, dworch (Dutch dwerg).
The Modern English noun has undergone complex phonetic changes. The form dwarf is the regular continuation of Old English dweorg, but the plural dweorgas would have given rise to dwarrows and the oblique stem dweorge- would have led to dwery. These forms are sometimes found as the nominative singular in Middle English texts and in English dialects. A parallel case is that of Old English burg giving burgh, borough, burrow, bury.

dwarf standing on the shoulders of giants

Nidavellir, which is sometimes called Svartalfheim, where the dwarfs (who are also known as dark elves) live beneath the mountains and build their remarkable creations.

2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 20:

(mythology) Any member of a race of beings from (especially Scandinavian and other Germanic) folklore, usually depicted as having some sort of supernatural powers and being skilled in crafting and metalworking, often as short with long beards, and sometimes as clashing with elves.

dwerg

being from folklore, underground dwelling nature spirit

(now sometimes offensive) A person of short stature, often one whose limbs are disproportionately small in relation to the body as compared with typical adults, usually as the result of a genetic condition.


dwarf

en-adj

dwarf (comparative dwarfer, superlative dwarfest)

dwarfer (comparative)
dwarfest (superlative)

The specimen is a very dwarf form of the plant.

It is possible to grow the plants as dwarf as one desires.


harpy

Ultimately from Middle French harpie, from Latin harpyia, from Ancient Greek Ἅρπυια (Hárpuia, literally “snatcher”), from ἁρπάζω (harpázō, “I snatch, seize”). Compare rapacious. Middle English had arpie.

harpía

fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman

Both table and provisions vanish'd quite,
With sound of harpies' wings and talons heard.

1671, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:

(mythology) A mythological creature generally depicted as a bird-of-prey with the head of a maiden, a face pale with hunger and long claws on her hands personifying the destructive power of storm winds.


hob

From Middle English Hob (a diminutive of Robin, an Old French [Term?] diminutive of Robert), through its connection with Robin Goodfellow and (later) the devil. Compare hobgoblin; see robin.

From elves, hobs, and fairies, […] Defend us, good Heaven!

1610–1616, John Fletcher, “Monsieur Thomas. A Comedy.”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act IV, scene vi:

(obsolete) A fairy; a sprite; an elf; a bogey.


druid

Borrowed from French druide, from Old French, via Latin Druidae, from Gaulish *druwits, from Proto-Celtic *druwits (literally either “oak-knower” or “firm knower, great sage”), from either Proto-Indo-European *dóru (“tree”) or *drew- (“solid, firm, hard”) and *weyd- (“to see, to have knowledge”).
The earliest record of the term in Latin is by Julius Caesar in the first century B.C. in his De Bello Gallico. The native Celtic word for "druid" is first attested in Latin texts as druides (plural) and other texts also employ the form druidae (akin to the Greek form). Cognate with the later insular Celtic words, Old Irish druí (“druid, sorcerer”) and early Welsh dryw (“seer”).

(fantasy, roleplaying games) A priest or mage who uses magic based on nature or trees.


wizard

4chan
English Renaissance
Fizban the Fabulous
en:wizard

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 who are typically friendless, shy, outcasts, and loners who don't fit in anywhere, legendarily gain magical powers upon reaching 30 years of age; popularized ultimately by 4chan and adjacent online incel spaces.

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 February 2, Diane Duane, Games Wizards Play, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN:

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 November 1, Dale Stubbart, The Wizard Without a Wand, Dale Stubbart:

Someone, usually male, who uses (or has skill with) magic, mystic items, and magical and mystical practices.


Charybdis

From Ancient Greek Χάρυβδις (Khárubdis).

I have never yet been able to steer my lovers through the Scylla of presence, or the Charybdis of absence.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Chapter XII. Lady Marchmont’s Journal.”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 85:

A dangerous whirlpool on the coast of Sicily opposite Scylla on the Italian coast.


vamp

en-verb

vamp (third-person singular simple present vamps, present participle vamping, simple past and past participle vamped)

vamps (present singular third-person)
vamping (participle present)
vamped (participle past)
vamped (past)

From Middle English vaumpe, vaum-pei, vampe (“covering for the foot, perhaps a slipper or understocking; upper of a boot or shoe”), or from Anglo-Norman vampe, *vaumpé (“part of a stocking covering the top of the foot”), from Old French avantpied, avantpiet, variants of avantpié, from avant (“in front”) + pié (“foot”).
Noun senses 2 and 3 (“a patch; something patched up or improvised”) appear to have been extended from sense 1 (“top part of a boot or shoe”). Sense 4 (“repeated and often improvised musical accompaniment”) was probably derived from sense 3, and sense 5 (“activity to fill or stall for time”) from sense 4.
The verb senses were derived from the noun. Compare also Middle English vaum-peien (“(uncertain) to repair (footwear) with a new upper or vamp; to fabricate an upper or vamp”).

cog

Keep vamping! Something’s wrong with the mic!

She went out there to vamp since the speaker was late arriving.

(intransitive) To delay or stall for time, as for an audience.


chimera

monolith

antonym(s) of “anything composed of very disparate parts”

Variant of Middle English chimere, chymere, & chymera under renewed Latin influence from the 16th century, from French chimère, from Latin Chimaera, from Ancient Greek Χίμαιρα (Khímaira, “fire-breathing mythological monster, fire-spewing Lycian or Cilician mountain”), from χίμαιρα (khímaira, “she-goat”, from χίμαρος (khímaros, “male goat”) + -α (-a)), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey-. In reference to the fish, directly from Latin Chimaera, used by Linnaeus. In reference to organisms with distinct areas of different genetic makeups, a calque of German Chimäre, used by Hans Winkler in 1907.

af

...beestis clepid chymeres, that han a part of ech beest, and suche ben not, no but oonly in opynyoun...

1382, John Purvey, Bible, Prologue, p. 31

Bellerophon was commanded to destroy this monster, and with the assistance of the flying horse, Pegasus, he slew the chimera.

1860, E. Cust, “The Chimeras: An Attempt to Show that the Compound Animals of the Assyrian Marbles are Representations of those Erected by Solomon and Jeroboam (Read 1st and 8th December, 1859.)”, in Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, volume XII, Liverpool: Adam Holden, →OCLC, page 99:

The game includes a bunch of chimeras, with the lion heads shooting fire and the snake tails whipping around trying to bite the player.

(Greek mythology) Alternative letter-case form of Chimera, a supposed monster in Lycia with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a dragon or serpent, killed by the hero Bellerophon.


chimera

From Latin chimaera, from Ancient Greek Χίμαιρα (Khímaira).

chimaera, a kind of shark of the genus Chimaera


pug

Origin unknown, possibly related to West Flemish pugge (“(adjective) small; (noun) short person; pet name derived from the first name Pugge”); though it is uncertain whether sense 1 (“senses relating to someone or something small”) and sense 2 (“senses relating to people”) are derived from the same source.
Sense 1.8 (“small demon”) was probably influenced by, though not a variant of, puck.

pentu

It is to be observed in this experiment, […] that the loss of weight by feeding (tegs or pugs) on turnips, is remarkable: […]

1808, Thomas Batchelor, “Live Stock”, in General View of the Agriculture of the County of Bedford. […], London: […] [B. MᶜMillan] for Richard Phillips, […], →OCLC, section 2 (Sheep), page 541:

Senses relating to someone or something small.

(UK, regional, archaic) Also used as a proper name: any of various animals, such as a ferret, hare, squirrel, or young salmon.

(specifically) Synonym of teg (“a sheep (originally a ewe) in its second year, or from the time it is weaned until it is first shorn”)

teg

[…] I heard her call him dear pug, and found him to be her favourite monkey.

1712 October 13 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “THURSDAY, October 2, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 499; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume V, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 454:

Its proper Povver to hurt, each Creature feels, / Bulls aim their Horns, and Aſſes lift their Heels, / 'Tis a Bear's Talent not to kick, but hug, / And no Man vvonders he's not ſtung by Pug: […]

1733, Alexander Pope, The First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, […], London [actually Edinburgh]: […] L[awton] G[illiver] and sold by A. Dodd […], E[lizabeth] Nutt […], →OCLC, page 13:

Take avvay the pug, ſaid I, to the attendants—Take it avvay vvhile any of it is left—They reſcued the ſtill ſmiling babe, and run avvay vvith it.

1753 (indicated as 1754), [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XLIII. Lady G. to Lady Grandison.”, in The History of Sir Charles Grandison. […], 2nd edition, volume VI, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by C. Hitch and L. Hawes, […], →OCLC, page 211:

Or, is the Monkey sick, he takes his bed; / Old Slop is sent for, to prescribe for Pug.— […]

1812, Peter Pindar [pseudonym; John Wolcot], “Tristia; or, The Sorrows of Peter: […]. Elegy.”, in The Works of Peter Pindar, Esq. […], new edition, volume V, London: […] J[ohn] Walker, G. Wilkie and J. Robinson, G. Robinson, […]; and G. Goulding and Co. […], →OCLC, page 297:

(specifically, obsolete) An ape, a monkey; also (by extension) a human child.

[T]here is a dead silence, till pug is well out of cover, and the whole pack well in: then cheer the hounds with tally ho! till your lungs crack. Away he goes in gallant style, and the whole field is hard up, till pug takes a stiff country: […]

1812, [Maria] Edgeworth, “The Absentee. Chapter VIII.”, in Tales of Fashionable Life (2nd series), volume VI, London: […] [Heney] for J[oseph] Johnson and Co., […], →OCLC, pages 93–94:

That spell was broken by the sight of poor wearied pug, his once gracefully-floating brush all draggled and drooping, as he toiled up the sheep-paths toward the open down above.

1848, [Charles Kingsley], “The Philosophy of Fox-hunting”, in Yeast: A Problem. […], London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], published 1851, →OCLC, page 16:

Dear, delicate Madam, I am your little Paraquit, your Sparrovv, your Shock, your Pugg, your Squirrel.

1685 July (first performance), N[ahum] Tate, Cuckolds-Haven: Or, An Alderman No Conjurer. A Farce. […], London: […] J. H. and are to be sold by Edward Poole, […], published 1685, →OCLC, Act I, scene ii, page 5:

Squirrels / Are not uncommon in the plantings on the broad edges, where they may be seen feeding on the deal-apples, as the Broadsmen call the fir-cones; nuts and acorns too they are fond of. […] Stoats sometimes chase them, but "pug" generally manages to escape, an[d] he can get to a tree first—he is a much more daring jumper.

1895, P[eter] H[enry] Emerson, “Shrew Mouse, or Rana, and Squirrels”, in Birds, Beasts and Fishes of the Norfolk Broadland, London: David Nutt, […], →OCLC, page 363:

Satan. The great diuell. / Pvg. The leſſe diuell.

1616 October or November (first performance), Ben Jonson, “The Persons of the Play”, in The Diuell is an Asse: A Comedie […], London: […] I. B. for Robert Allot, […], published 1631, →OCLC, page 93:

In Iohn Mileſius any man may reade / Of Diuels in Sarmatia honored, / Call'd Kottri, or Kibaldi; ſuch as vvee / Pugs and Hob-goblins call.

1635, Tho[mas] Heywood, “The Ninth Tractat: The Angell”, in The Hierarchie of the Blessed Angells. […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 574:

This is your Buſineſs Good Pug Robin, / And your Diverſion, dull Dry Bobbing: / T' intice Fanaticks in the Dirt, / And vvaſh 'em clean in Ditches for't.

1677 (indicated as 1678), [Samuel Butler], “Canto I”, in Hudibras. The Third and Last Part. […], London: […] Simon Miller, […], →OCLC, page 82:

(obsolete) A small demon; an imp, a puck, a sprite.


hag

From Middle English hagge, hegge (“demon, old woman”), shortening of Old English hægtesse, hægtes (“harpy, witch”), from Proto-West Germanic *hagatussjā. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Häkse (“witch”), Dutch heks, German Hexe (“witch”). Doublet of hex.

And that olde hag that with a staffe his staggering lymbes dooth stay

1565, Arthur Golding (tr.), The Fyrst Fower Bookes of P. Ouidius Nasos worke intitled Metamorphosis, London: William Seres, The Fovrthe Booke:

Such unaccountable masses of shades and shadows, that at first you almost thought some ambitious young artist, in the time of the New England hags, had endeavored to delineate chaos bewitched.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 3, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 11:

A witch, sorceress, or enchantress; a wizard.


Scylla

From Latin Scylla, from Ancient Greek Σκύλλα (Skúlla).

I have never yet been able to steer my lovers through the Scylla of presence, or the Charybdis of absence.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Chapter XII. Lady Marchmont’s Journal.”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 85:

between Scylla and Charybdis
between Scylla and Charybdis

A dangerous rock on the Italian coast opposite the whirlpool Charybdis on the coast of Sicily. The passage between Scylla and Charybdis was formerly considered perilous; hence, the saying between Scylla and Charybdis signifies a great peril on either hand.

(Greek mythology) A personification of said rock as a ravenous monster.

Ah cease rash Youth! desist e'er 'tis too late, / Fear the just Gods, and think of Scylla′s Fate!

1714, Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock, Canto III:

(Greek mythology) A princess, daughter of King Nisos of Megara, who fell in love with King Minos and betrayed her city to him.

(astronomy) The main belt asteroid 155 Scylla.


Pegasus

From Late Middle English Pegase, Pegasus, from Latin Pēgasus, from Ancient Greek Πήγασος (Pḗgasos), traditionally associated with πηγή (pēgḗ, “spring, fountain, fountain fed by a spring”), especially used to denote springs of Ocean, where Perseus killed Medusa, from whose blood Pegasus sprang. Some have dismissed this as folk etymology and suggest a pre-Greek origin because of the -ασος suffix. First attested in the 14th century.

Пегас

in Ancient Greek or other European contexts

(Greek mythology) A winged horse fabled to have sprung from the blood of Medusa when she was slain. He is noted for causing, with a blow of his hoof, Hippocrene, the inspiring fountain of the Muses, to spring from Mount Helicon. Bellerophon tamed and rode upon Pegasus when he defeated the Chimaera.

vernal equinoctial
vernal equinox#English

(astronomy) A constellation of the northern sky, near the vernal equinoctial point, representing the winged horse. Its three brightest stars, with the brightest star of Andromeda, form the asterism of the Great Square of Pegasus.


Pegasus

(originally Greek mythology, fantasy, occasionally proscribed) Any winged horse; pterippus.

Confidence in Corinthian Pegasi grew up in the Greek zone of the island in such a way that Pegasi became the accepted coin of the realm.

2007 February 15, R. J. A. Talbert, Timoleon and the Revival of Greek Sicily: 344-317 B.C., Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, →OL, page 167:

(historical) A coin of ancient Corinth with a winged horse depicted on the obverse.


Pegasus

la-proper noun

Pēgasus m sg (genitive Pēgasī); second declension

Pēgasus (canonical masculine singular)
Pēgasī (genitive)
Pēgasus (nominative singular)
Pēgasī (genitive singular)
Pēgasō (dative singular)
Pēgasum (accusative singular)
Pēgasō (ablative singular)
Pēgase (singular vocative)

[ˈpeːɡäs̠ʊs̠]

[ˈpɛːɡäs̬us]


sprite

→ Japanese: スプライト (supuraito)

→ Russian: спрайт (sprajt)

From Middle English sprite, spryt, spreyte, from Old French esprit (“spirit”), from Latin spiritus. Doublet of spirit, spiritus, spirytus, spright, and esprit.
(computer graphics): First used by Danny Hillis at Texas Instruments in the late 1970s.
(meteorology): An acronym for Stratospheric Perturbations Resulting from Intense Thunderstorm Electrification.

doublet

(mythology) Any of various supernatural beings, loosely defined:


slime

en-noun

slime (countable and uncountable, plural slimes)

→ French: slime

→ Japanese: スライム (suraimu)

→ Korean: 슬라임 (seullaim)

From Middle English slime, slyme, slim, slym, from Old English slīm, from Proto-Germanic *slīmą, from Proto-Indo-European *sley- (“smooth; slick; sticky; slimy”). Cognates include Danish slim, Saterland Frisian Sliem, Dutch slijm, German Schleim (“mucus, slime”), Latin limus (“mud”), Ancient Greek λίμνη (límnē, “marsh”).

der

This is a nameless blue slime, drawn by Chris Hildenbrand, for a role playing game (RPG) that was never released.

2006, Lawrence Wright, Character Design for Mobile Devices, Gulf Professional Publishing, →ISBN, page 8:

(fantasy, video games) A monster having the form of a slimy blob.


bruja

es-noun

bruja f (plural brujas, masculine brujo, masculine plural brujos)

brujas (plural)
brujo (masculine)
brujos (masculine plural)

→ Cebuano: bruha

→ Tagalog: bruha

Uncertain. Possibly from Iberian/Celtiberian *bruxtia (compare Catalan bruixa, Portuguese bruxa, Occitan bruèissa), from Proto-Celtic *brixtā (“spell, magic”) (compare Old Irish bricht (“charm”), Old Breton brith (“magic”)). It could instead be akin to a different Celtic word such as Old Irish Brigit (literally “high, exalted”).

m+

crone, hag (ugly, evil-looking, or frightening old woman)


人魚

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (人魚):
* → Japanese: 人魚(にんぎょ) (ningyo)
* → Korean: 인어(人魚) (ineo)
* → Vietnamese: nhân ngư (人魚)

/jɐn²¹ jyː²¹/

/n̠ʲin²² ɦy⁴⁴/

/zən²² ɦy⁴⁴/

/jɐn²¹ jyː²¹/

/n̠ʲin²² ɦy⁴⁴/

/zən²² ɦy⁴⁴/


人魚

人魚姫

伝説では、彼女は人魚だったと言われる。

Densetsu de wa, kanojo wa ningyo datta to iwareru.

1999 March 27, “恍(こう)惚(こつ)の人魚(マーメイド) [Enchanting Mermaid]”, in Vol.2, Konami:

A beautiful mermaid who lures seafarers before drowning them.

海を航海する者を誘惑しておぼれさせる、美しい人魚。

Umi o kōkai suru mono o yūwaku shite oboresaseru, utsukushii ningyo.

人魚構文

人魚構文 にんぎょこうぶん


miniature

/ˈmɪn(i)ət͡ʃʊəɹ/

Borrowed from Italian miniatura (“manuscript illumination”), from miniare (“to illuminate”), from Latin miniō (“to colour red”), from minium (“red lead”).

bor

(chess) A chess game which is concluded with very few moves.


summon

en-verb

summon (third-person singular simple present summons, present participle summoning, simple past and past participle summoned)

summons (present singular third-person)
summoning (participle present)
summoned (participle past)
summoned (past)
summon (infinitive)

From Anglo-Norman somoundre, from Old French sumundre, from Latin summonēre, itself from sub + monēre, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *monéyeti, causative from *men- (“to think”).

“Why won't you teach me to summon water? I can summon fire so easily, it's only logical that I should learn to put out my mistakes.”

2010, Kay Hooper, The Wizard of Seattle, Fanfare, →ISBN:

(fantasy, transitive) To call a resource by magic.


magistra

Your grandmother must have provided assistance to the magistra at some point.

2002, Evelyn Vaughn, Forest of the Night, →ISBN, page 13:

What the magistra hadn’t said was that a number of the other students were children, some as young as eight or nine.

2007, L. E. Modesitt, Jr., Natural Ordermage, →ISBN, page 119:

“You will take the magistra and magister wherever they need to go, please. They have done my household great service tonight.”

2009, Alison Sinclair, Darkborn, New American Library, →ISBN:

The Magistra was waiting for him in the entrance hall, the vast double doors already opened.

2013, R. S. Ford, Herald of the Storm (Steelhaven: Book One), Headline Publishing Group, →ISBN:

It was, after all, addressed to the magistra of the branch, and technically she fit the description.

2013, Daniel Abraham, The Tyrant’s Law (book 3 of The Dagger and the Coin), Hachette, →ISBN:

With some difficulty, the magistra managed to undo the clasp.

2015, Paul E. Horsman, Rhidauna: The Shadow of the Revenaunt, Book 1, Red Rune Books, →ISBN:

Giving the magistra an apologetic nod, he turned to the karanat and observed, “You do speak Esse. Let’s have no more pretense of that kind. I have questions, which I can put to you in civilized fashion here, under Magistra Ilia’s eye, or elsewhere, under no concerned gaze.[…]”

2016, Rachel Neumeier, The Mountain of Kept Memory, Saga Press, →ISBN:

“On the contrary, show them both in, and bring us a can of Tulamyde Gold and some cookies. It will not be said that I am stingy with important guests,” Emmeran Stoerrebrandt proclaimed. Yet another violation of his dietary rules. He regretted it almost at once. At least until the Magistra rushed into the room, her face set in a grim scowl.

2017, Kevin MacGregor, editor, The Dark Eye: Starless Sky, Ulisses Spiele, →ISBN:

The magistra, who came to inspect the cleaning, interrupted her, “Why are you standing there staring at the wall when there’s much work to do, Floriana?[…]”

2019, Eleanor Cripps, The Countess Choir Woman, Christian Faith Publishing, Inc., →ISBN:

She had always been jealous of the Magistras and their proximity to Queen Leona and now she could solve a problem for one of them.

2020, A.N. Sage, Kartega, Cauldron Press, →ISBN:

It didn’t help that Zuri pulled out her saltiest language in Ky’s required meetings with the coven council. He was convinced she did it on purpose. For one thing, she always looked far too smug at the outraged expressions on the magistras’ faces.

2020, E.J. Russell, Witch Under Wraps, Riptide Publishing, →ISBN, page 34:

Our physician is not available, and we have sought aid from the magistra and Leah Sara Garcia.

2022, Esther Erman, Rebecca of Salerno: A Novel of Rogue Crusaders, a Jewish Female Physician, and a Murder, She Writes Press, →ISBN:

(fiction, especially fantasy) A woman with power or authority, such as a teacher or archmage; a mistress.


laminak

Basque folklore is full of references to a type of creature called the lamiñak, who, as we have seen, are the female counterparts of the cromlech-building Maide.

1989, The Journal of Indo-European Studies, volume 17, page 282:

She smiled, remembering the Basque story Zak had told her about the laminaks — little people who live in caves in the mountains and come into the house during the night, […]

1991, Patricia Edwards, Sweet Promised Land, page 233:

A kind of fairy in Basque mythology, related to the Little People in Celtic lore.


troll

Partly:
* from Middle English trol (“demon (?); sorcerer (?)”) [and other forms], from Old Norse trǫll (“conjurer, mage; witch”), from Proto-Germanic *truzlą (“supernatural being; demon, fiend; giant; monster”), probably from *trudaną (“to step on; to tread”) + *-ilą (suffix forming agent nouns); and
* borrowed from Norwegian Bokmål troll, Swedish troll, or Danish trold, from Old Norse trǫll (see above).
Doublet of droll and trow.
cognates
* Danish fortrylle (“to bewitch”), trylle (“to conjure”)
* Icelandic tröll
* Middle High German trol, trolle (“spook, wraith; ogre, monster”)
* Norwegian fortrylle (“to bewitch”), trylle (“to conjure”)
* Swedish trolla (“to conjure”)

der

He followed their advice, and rode through a rye-field, where the Trolls were unable to follow him, but in their exasperation cried after him, "The red cock shall crow over thy dwelling." And behold! his house stood in a blaze.

1851, Benjamin Thorpe, “Norwegian Traditions. [The Girl at the Sæter.]”, in Northern Mythology, […], volumes II (Scandinavian Popular Traditions and Superstitions), London: Edward Lumley, […], →OCLC, page 7:

The Scandinavian fancied himself surrounded by Trolls,—a kind of goblin men, with vast power of work and skilful production,—divine stevedores, carpenters, reapers, smiths, and masons, swift to reward every kindness done them, with gifts of gold and silver.

1856, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Ability”, in English Traits, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC, page 81:

The bear got so angry that he rushed at the trolls and scratched them all over, while Peter took the other handspike and hammered away at them as if he wanted to beat their brains out. The trolls had to clear out at last, but Peter stayed and enjoyed himself with all the Christmas fare the whole week. After that the trolls were not heard of there for many years.

1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], “Peter Gynt”, in H. L. Brækstad, transl., Round the Yule Log. Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 150:

In these manuscripts we are again in an atmosphere of eotens and trolls, there are traces of even older terrors, when the first Teuton settlers in Europe struggled with the aborigines who lived in caves, hints as elusive as the phantom heroes in the Saxon poems, and as unforgettable.

1922, Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, “The Anglo-Saxon Herbals”, in The Old English Herbals, London: Longmans, Green and Co. […], →OCLC, page 3:

(originally Scandinavian mythology, now also European folklore and fantasy) a giant supernatural being, especially a grotesque humanoid creature living in caves or hills or under bridges.

طْرُول

giant supernatural being; grotesque humanoid creature living in caves or hills or under bridges


troll

From Swedish troll, from Old Norse troll, from Proto-Germanic *truzlą, from Proto-Indo-European *dreh₂-.


troll

troll (inflammatory poster on the Internet)


troll

trollet (definite singular)
troll (indefinite plural)
trolla (definite plural)
trollene (definite plural)

From Old Norse trǫll, from Proto-Germanic *truzlą, from Proto-Indo-European *dreh₂-.


troll

trollet (definite singular)
troll (indefinite plural)
trolla (definite plural)

a troll (a (often large) grotesque humanoid creature that lives in the forest or the mountain)


troll

troll (nominative singular)
trolle (nominative plural)
trolla (genitive singular)
trolli (genitive plural)
trollowi (dative singular)
trollom (dative plural)
trolla (accusative singular)
trolle (accusative plural)
trollem (instrumental singular)
trollami (instrumental plural)
trollu (locative singular)
trollach (locative plural)
trollu (singular vocative)
trolle (plural vocative)

(European folklore, Norse mythology) troll (grotesque humanoid creature living in caves or hills or under bridges)


troll

troll (indefinite nominative singular)
trolls (genitive indefinite singular)
trollet (definite nominative singular)
trollets (definite genitive singular)
troll (indefinite nominative plural)
trolls (genitive indefinite plural)
trollen (definite nominative plural)
trollens (definite genitive plural)

När trollmor har lagt sina elva små troll, och bundit fast dom i svansen, då sjunger hon sakta för [de] elva små trollen, de vackraste ord hon känner: ho aj aj aj aj buff, ho aj aj aj aj buff, ho aj aj aj aj buff, buff, ho aj aj aj aj buff.

1943, Margit Holmberg (lyrics and music), “Trollmors vaggsång [Mother troll's lullaby]”:

When mother troll has put her eleven little trolls to bed, and tied them up by their tails [tail], then she slowly sings to the eleven little trolls, the most beautiful words she knows: ho ay ay ay ay buff, ho ay ay ay ay buff, ho ay ay ay ay buff, buff, ho ay ay ay ay buff.


mage

From Middle English mages (plurale tantum), from Latin magus, from Ancient Greek Μάγος (Mágos), from the hapax Old Persian 𐎶𐎦𐎢𐏁 (m-gu-u-š /maguš/). Doublet of magus.

(chiefly fantasy) A magician, wizard, sorcerer, witch, warlock or mystic.

spiritualist

spiritualist or practitioner of mystic arts

While the liberality of Gelo and his brother Hiero atracted every stranger who could amuse or instruct the court of Syracuse, a Persian Mage related to the former of those princes that he himself had circumnavigated the whole continent of Africa.

c. 1790, Edward Gibbon, On the Position of the Meridional Line, and the supposed Circumnavigation of Africa by the Ancients; republished as The Miscellaneous Works of Edward Gibbon, Esq. […] , volume 5, 1814, pages 186–87:

(obsolete) Synonym of magus: a Zoroastrian priest.

magic user

practitioner of allegedly supernatural magic


fantasy

Unadapted borrowing from English fantasy. Doublet of fantaisie.


genie

From French génie (“genius, genie”), a phono-semantic matching of Arabic جِنِّيّ (jinniyy).

psm

genie in a bottle

(mythology) A fictional magical being that is typically bound to obey the commands of a mortal possessing its container.


slithy

Blend of lithe + slimy, coined by Lewis Carroll in 1871.

The squid wrapped its slithy tentacles around its prey.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves / Did gyre and gimble in the wabe.

She wanted to wear these slithy, snaky gowns you see in the pictures in the hallways of the $3 photographers.

1906, Good Housekeeping, volume 43, page 130:

Such a carriage is known as “an araba,” or alternatively as an yaili—a name which is probably onomatopœic, for it is about the “slithiest” thing that runs on wheels.

1914, Edgar Thomas Ainger Wigram, The Cradle of Mankind: Life in Eastern Kurdistan:

Falling roof, hidden shafts, slithiest snakes could not have stopped me after that. I arrived in the sparkling area.

1917, Gertrude Singleton Mathews, Treasure, page 126:

He sweeps down; a frog is pinioned / Swift arrives his faithful soul-mate / True-loves share their slithy dinner.

2013, Jane Wilson-Howarth, A Glimpse of Eternal Snows:

The Beast, slithier even than the Jabberwock and certainly a deal more manxsome as a foe, grips in its claws a dreaded P45 from Piers marking the end of employment at Gussage Court.

2014, Timothy Edward, Lessons in Humiliation, page 157:

Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There


brujo

es-noun

brujo m (plural brujos, feminine bruja, feminine plural brujas)

brujos (plural)
bruja (feminine)
brujas (feminine plural)


coco

Borrowed from Portuguese côco (“bogeyman, grinning face”), probably from Latin coccum (“kernel, seed”).

bor+

Duérmete niño, duérmete ya… que viene el coco y te comerá.

Sleep child, sleep now… lest the bogeyman come and eat you.


draig

draige (genitive singular)
draig (mutation mutation-radical)
dhraig (lenition mutation)
ndraig (eclipsis mutation)

From Old Irish draic, from Proto-Brythonic *drėg, earlier Proto-Celtic *drakū, from Latin dracō.


draig

dreigiau (plural)
draig
ddraig (soft)
nraig

From Middle Welsh dreic, from Proto-Brythonic *drėg, earlier *drakū, from Latin dracō.