wizard
Noun · AdjectiveWordNet 3.0
Noun (2)
Adjective (1)
- possessing or using or characteristic of or appropriate to supernatural powers“charming incantations”“magic signs that protect against adverse influence”“a magical spell”“'tis now the very witching time of night — Shakespeare”“wizard wands”“wizardly powers”Synonyms: charmingmagicmagicalsorcerouswitching(a)wizard(a)wizardly
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
1.Enchanting; charming. --Collins. [1913 Webster]
2.Haunted by wizards. [1913 Webster]
Where Deva spreads her wizard stream.— Milton.[1913 Webster]
1.A wise man; a sage. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
See how from far upon the eastern road The star-led wizards [Magi] haste with odors sweet!— Milton.[1913 Webster]
2.One devoted to the black art; a magician; a conjurer; a sorcerer; an enchanter. [1913 Webster]
The wily wizard must be caught.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
1.A person who knows how a complex piece of software or hardware works (that is, who groks it); especially someone who can find and fix bugs quickly in an emergency. Someone is a hacker if he or she has general hacking ability, but is a wizard with respect to something only if he or she has specific detailed knowledge of that thing. A good hacker could become a wizard for something given the time to study it.
2.A person who is permitted to do things forbidden to ordinary people; one who has wheel privileges on a system.
3.A Unix expert, especially a Unix systems programmer. This usage is well enough established that "Unix Wizard" is a recognised job title at some corporations and to most headhunters.
See guru, lord high fixer. See also deep magic, heavy wizardry, incantation, magic, mutter, rain dance, voodoo programming, wave a dead chicken.
4.An interactive help utility that guides the user through a potentially complex task, such as configuring a PPP driver to work with a new modem. Wizards are often implemented as a sequence of dialog boxes which the user can move forward and backward through, filling in the details required. The implication is that the expertise of a human wizard in one of the above senses is encapsulated in the software wizard, allowing the average user to perform expertly. [Jargon File]
(1998-09-07)
The Jargon File
1.Transitively, a person who knows how a complex piece of software or hardware works (that is, who groks it); esp. someone who can find and fix bugs quickly in an emergency. Someone is a hacker if he or she has general hacking ability, but is a wizard with respect to something only if he or she has specific detailed knowledge of that thing. A good hacker could become a wizard for something given the time to study it.
2.The term ‘wizard’ is also used intransitively of someone who has extremely high-level hacking or problem-solving ability.
3.A person who is permitted to do things forbidden to ordinary people; one who has wheel privileges on a system.
4.A Unix expert, esp. a Unix systems programmer. This usage is well enough established that ‘Unix Wizard’ is a recognized job title at some corporations and to most headhunters.
See guru, lord high fixer. See also deep magic, heavy wizardry, incantation, magic, mutter, rain dance, voodoo programming, wave a dead chicken.