Forms: 1 wǽrloʓa, wérloʓa, 3 werlau, werlaw, 3–4 warlou, 3–5 warlagh(e, warlau, warlaw(e, 4–5 warlag, warlaȝ(e, warloghe, werlaughe, 4–5 (6–7 Sc.) warlow(e, 4–6 (? 9) Sc. warlo, 5 warlach, warloo, warlowȝ, werlawe, 6 Sc. warloche, warlok, vairloche, varlo, 7 ? warelocke, warlike, warluck, 8 (Sc.), 9. warlock. [OE. wǽr-loʓa wk. masc. traitor, enemy, devil, etc. = OS. wâr-logo wk. masc. ? deceiver (once, Hêliand 3817, in pl. wârlogon applied to the Pharisees). The first element is probably OE. wǽr str. fem. covenant = OHG. wâra truth, ON. várar str. fem. pl. solemn promise, vow (cf. Vǽringi confederate, Varangian); cf. OSlav. vĕra faith. This is a derivative from the adj. represented by OE. wǽr true (once, Genesis, 681; ? a. OS.) = OS., OHG. wâr true:—OTeut. *wǣro-:—Pre-Teut. *wēro- = L. vērus. The second element (an agent-n. related to OE. léoʓan to LIE, belie, deny) occurs also in the similar comps. áþ-loʓa, tréow-loʓa (OS. treulogo), wed-loʓa (ME. wedlowe), an oath-breaker, etc.
This seems to have been the original sense of the present word, but the special application to the Devil (either as a rebel, or a deceiver) was already in OE. the leading sense. The applications to sorcerers, with especial reference to the power of assuming inhuman shapes, and to monsters (esp. serpents), appear to be developments, partly due to Scriptural language, of the sense ‘devil.’
The modern forms with final -(c)k are of obscure origin, for they appear first in Sc. of 16th c., and owe their spread to Sc. writers, and so cannot represent, as has been assumed, a Southern sound-substitution of (k) for the -ch (χ) of some of the rarer North and Sc. forms. From the first they have been used exclusively in the sense ‘wizard.’ Some other word, lost or not discovered, has perh. influenced both form and sense. On. varðlokkur wk. fem. pl. (cf. also urðar lo(k)kur) ? incantation, suggested already in Johnson, is too rare (? occurring once), with regard to the late appearance of the -k forms, to be considered.]
† 1. An oath-breaker, traitor. Obs.
Widsið 9 (Gr.). Hreðcyninges ham … Eormanrices, wraþes wærloʓan.
a. 1023. Wulfstan, Hom. (1883), 266. He sceal wedloʓan and warloʓan hatian and hynan.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 3771. Sir Gawayne i-wysse, he waytes hym wele To wreke hyme on this werlaughe [Modred], that this werre mouede.
† b. A wicked person; a scoundrel, reprobate; a general term of reproach or abuse. Obs.
a. 1000. Judith, 71 (Gr.). Weras winsade … ðone wærloʓan [Holofernus], laðne leodhatan læddon to bedde.
c. 1275. Serving Christ, 37, in O. E. Misc., 91. Bi-leueþ oure weorre warlawes wode. Al þes world is bi-heled myd heþene-hode.
c. 1394. P. Pl. Crede, 783. Wenest þou þer wold so fele swiche warlawes worþen, Ne were worldlyche wele and her welfare.
a. 1400–50. Wars Alex., 4425. Þus fra þe rote of riȝtwisnes rauyst ere ȝe clene, And to þe way of wickidnes be warlaȝes gidid.
c. 1440. York Myst., xxx. 141. Sir, what warlowe yow wakens With wordis full wilde, þat boy for his brawlyng were better be vn-borne. Ibid., xliv. 176. Undo youre dores, and haues no doute, For to ȝone warlowes [the Jews] will we wende.
c. 1450. St. Cuthbert, 4544. Þan all þe hoste with Elfride To Assendoun þai turne þat tyde, Whare þa warlowes ware.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, xxvi. 60. Catyvis, wrechis and okkeraris, Hud-pykis, hurdaris and gadderaris, All with that warlo [Covetousness] went.
† c. A damned soul in hell. Obs. rare.
a. 900. Cynewulf, Crist, 1562. Ðonne mansceaða fore meotude forht deorc on þam dome standeð … bið se wærloʓa fyres afylled feores unwyrðe eʓsan ʓeþread and-weard gode won & wliteleas.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 23250. Þe aghtand pine it es ful grise, to se þaa warlaus in þat wise.
† 2. The Devil; Satan. Obs.
Freq. in Cursor Mundi, where warlau occurs as a genitive (:-OE. wǽrloʓan).
a. 1000. Cædmon’s Gen., 36 (Gr.). [God] scoop ðam werloʓan wræclicne ham weorce to leane.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 22275. [Antichrist] þe warlau aun child. Ibid., 23747. Vr flexs, þis werld, and þe warlau, We ar bunden vnder þair au. Ibid., 27060. For qua witstandes warlau will, he has na might to do him ill.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xviii. (Egipciane), 636. [Christ] þat ws fra þe warlo wane.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., xiii. 640. That warloo to sheynd this nyght is he borne.
a. 1568. in Bannatyne MS. (Hunter. Club), 78. Betuix ws, varlo, and thy weris All Chrystis passioun we put compleit.
† b. A devil, demon, spirit of hell. Obs. rare.
a. 900. Cynewulf, Guthlac, 269. Wid is þes westen, wræcsetla fela, eardas onhæle earmra gæsta; sindon wærloʓan, þe þa wic buʓað.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 22611. Þan sal þai þat in helle es cropen Quen sal scine þe heuennes open, þaa warlaus all sal walk þan vte.
c. 1440. De mirac. B. Marie, 105, in Horstm., Altengl. Leg. (1881), 504. Þe foulle warlawes of helle Vndir þe wallys skrykked schille.
† 3. A savage or monstrous creature (hostile to men). The word is applied to giants, cannibals, mythic beasts, etc. Obs.
a. 1000. Cædmon’s Gen., 1266 (Gr.). Frea wolde on wærloʓan wite settan & on deað slean dædum scyldiʓe ʓiʓantmæcgas, gode unleofe.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 7478. Allas! quar sal we find a man þat dar þe fight, for mi sake, Again yon warlau [Goliath] vndertake.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., C. 258. Þe hyȝe heuen kyng, þurȝ his honde myȝt, Warded þis wrech man [Jonah] in warlowes guttez.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 303. So dang he þat dog [sc. Cerberus] with dynt of his wappon, þat þe warlag was wete of his wan atter. Ibid., 7765. The warlagh [the Centaur] with a wicked arowe woundit hym behynd.
a. 1400–50. Wars Alex., 3795. Þai went be waldis & be wastis … And armed bud þam all bee for angwischis o bestis, As colwers & for coltris & crabbid snakis, And oþire warlaȝes wild þat in þe wod duelled.
a. 1585. Polwart, Flyting w. Montgomerie, 634. Ane vairloche [v.rr. warloch(e], ane woirwolf, ane wowbat of hair.
4. One in league with the Devil and so possessing occult and evil powers; a sorcerer, wizard (sometimes partly imagined as inhuman or demonic, and so approaching sense 2 or 3); the male equivalent of witch. Sc. and north. dial.
Frequently used by Scott, whence it has obtained some general literary currency. On the form warlock, specialized for this sense, see the etymology.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 1560. Segges … þat wer wyse of wych-crafte & warlaȝes oþer.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., viii. 232. Pharao.… Say, whence is yond warlow [Moyses] with his wand that thus wold wyle oure folk away?
a. 1585. Montgomerie, Misc. Poems, iii. 25. That witch, that warlok [sc. Fortune] … Turnis ay the best men tittest on thair bakis.
1685. G. Sinclair, Satan’s Invis. World, 45. An eminent Warlock whose name was Robert Grieve.
1689. trans. Buchanan’s De Jure Regni apud Scotos, 65. No Thief or Warlike will willingly compear before a Judge to be judged.
c. 1730. Burt, Lett. N. Scot. (1818), I. 234. He was himself a warlock, or wizard, which they knew by his taking the witch’s part.
1795. Burns, Song, ‘Last May a braw wooer,’ v. I gaed to the tryste o’ Dalgarnock, And wha but my fine fickle lover was there! I glowr’d as I’d seen a warlock, a warlock.
1816. Scott, Bl. Dwarf, v. ‘But you forget that they say he is a warlock,’ said Nancy Ilderton. ‘And, if his magic diabolical should fail him,’ rejoined her sister, ‘I would have him trust to his magic natural.’
1822. S. Hibbert, Shetl. Isl., IV. 576. The warlocks and witches of Thule used, by the same means, to raise tempests.
1840. Barham, Ingol. Leg., St. Aloys. The gipsy … always sneaks out at night with the bats and the owls,—So do Witches and Warlocks, Ghosts, Goblins, and Ghouls.
1860. Longf., Wayside Inn, I. King Olaf, V. x. In their real forms appeared The warlocks weird, Awful as the Witch of Endor.
1865. Baring-Gould, Were-wolves, 29. In like manner the Danish king Harold sent a warlock to Iceland in the form of a whale.
1882. Miss Braddon, Mt. Royal, I. ii. 51. I am prepared to believe in witches—warlocks.
b. Sc. In weaker sense, a magician, conjurer.
1721. Ramsay, Prospect of Plenty, 75. But gin ye be nae warlock, how d’ye ken?
1828. Scott, Aunt Marg. Mirr., ii. ‘That rascally quack would make my fortune were he to stay in Edinburgh,’ said the graduate…. ‘I suppose I must not ask your ladyship anything about this Italian warlock’s proceedings?’
1877. A. J. Ross, Mem. Alex. Ewing, xiv. 197. ‘He [the Bishop] never came to my private room to talke merely about business, without leaving me the impression that he was——’ an auditor, interrupting, said, ‘A godly warlock.’ ‘Yes,’ rejoined the speaker, ‘that was just it, he was a wizard….’
1886. Stevenson, Kidnapped, iii. I’m nae warlock, to find a fortune for you in the bottom of a parritch bowl.
† 5. By Dryden taken to mean: A warrior magically immune from wounds inflicted by certain metals. Obs.
Dryden’s spelling perh. indicates that he imagined the word to be f. WAR sb. + LUCK.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, Ded. (b) 4 b. It seems he [Æneas] was no War-luck, as the Scots commonly call such Men, who, they say, are Iron-free, or Lead-free.
6. attrib. and Comb. a. Appositive or adj. † Malignant, wicked (obs.); in later use, That is a warlock or wizard.
c. 1375. Cursor M., 7489 (Fairf.). Agayne ȝone warlagh hethen þing [Cotton MS. wreche haiþen þing] for-soþ I drede me noȝt sir king.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 6425. Nay, warloghe wolfe, in þi wode hongur,… The tydis not to taste of þis triet meite!
1560. Rolland, Seven Sages, 131. This reid Reifar & this rank warlo witche.
1683. G. Sinclair, Nat. Philos., 243. The Devil answered,… I and my Father will come and fetch you to hell, with Warlock-theeves. Ibid. (1685), Satan’s Invis. World, 123. Saying, You Warlok Cairle, what have you to do here?
1724. Ramsay, Ever Green (1761), I. 51. A Bytand Ballat on warlo Wives, That gar thair Men live pinging Lives.
1786. Burns, Brigs of Ayr, 71. Our warlock Rhymer instantly descry’d the Sprites that owre the Brigs of Ayr preside. (That Bards are second sighted is nae joke, And ken the lingo of the sp’ritual folk.)
1896. Kipling, Seven Seas, Rhyme Three Sealers. A Stralsund man shot blind and large, and a warlock Finn was he.
b. Pertaining to a warlock or warlocks, as in warlock claw, fight, knoll, etc.; warlock brief, a charter conveying magical powers; warlock fecket Sc. (see quot. 1810).
1786. Burns, To J. Smith, 3. Ye surely hae some warlock-breef Owre human hearts; for ne’er a bosom yet was prief Against your arts. Ibid. (1793), Song, ‘Now rosy May,’ Chorus. Meet me on the warlock-knowe, Daintie Davie, daintie Davie.
1803. H. K. White, Lines … spoken by a Lover, Rem. 1807, II. 47. No wicked elves upon the Warlock-knoll Dare now assemble at their mystic revels.
1807. Tannahill, Soldier’s Ret., II. i. A great red dragon, wi a warlock claw, Has come, and wi your dochter flown awa!
1810. Cromek, Remains Nithsdale Song, 281. Jackets, woven of water snake skins, at a certain time of a March moon, were much in vogue among the crusading servants of Satan; and are yet remembered by the name of warlock feckets.
1819. J. R. Drake, Culprit Fay, viii. Yet … If thy heart be pure and thy spirit right, Thou shalt win the warlock fight!
1905. Academy, 21 Oct., 1103/1. A warlock voice from the slumber of ages stirred.
