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Monox D. I-Fly Posted 10 years ago
Vocabulary

The Difference Between a Wizard and a Witch

What is the difference between a wizard and a witch? Due to reading Harry Potter, I thought their only difference was gender (wizard = male; witch = female). However, when I was browsing the forum, I found this:
https://www.potterforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3416#p2030793

Which one is true?
  

Top answer

That post talks about a technical historical distinction that most people would not be familiar with. For me, though, "witch" has somewhat different connotations from "wizard", so it is not purely a gender distinction. "Wizard" conjures up a picture of a fairly benevolent man, while "witch" makes me think of a cackling old hag.

— GPY

  • That post talks about a technical historical distinction that most people would not be familiar with.
  • For me, though, "witch" has somewhat different connotations from "wizard", so it is not purely a gender distinction.
  • "Wizard" conjures up a picture of a fairly benevolent man, while "witch" makes me think of a cackling old hag.
  • While these negative connotations may not be wanted or intended in Harry Potter, nevertheless they tend to intrude (for me).
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3 Answers
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That post talks about a technical historical distinction that most people would not be familiar with. For me, though, "witch" has somewhat different connotations from "wizard", so it is not purely a gender distinction. "Wizard" conjures up a picture of a fairly benevolent man, while "witch" makes me think of a cackling old hag. While these negative connotations may not be wanted or intended in Har
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Well, but in Harry Potter all female wizards (regardless of being good, bad, young, or old) are referred as witches. Also, in Digimon, Witchmon is basically a female Wizardmon.
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Monox D. I-FlyWell, but in Harry Potter all female wizards (regardless of being good, bad, young, or old) are referred as witches.
Right, which I find a bit odd, though I don't know what other word could have been used.
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