wand
pronunciation
How to pronounce wand in British English:
UK [wɒnd]
How to pronounce wand in American English:
US [wɑnd]
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- Noun:
- a baton used by a magician or water diviner
- a ceremonial or emblematic staff
Word Origin
- wand
- wand: [12] A wand is etymologically a ‘bendable’ stick. The word was borrowed from Old Norse vöndr ‘thin straight stick’. This in turn went back to a prehistoric Germanic *wanduz, which was derived from *wand-, *wend- ‘turn’ (source also of English wander, went, etc). A stick that can be ‘turned’ is one that can be ‘bent’, hence a ‘flexible stick’. The earliest record of the word’s use for a ‘stick with magic powers’ comes from the 15th century.=> wander, went
- wand (n.)
- c. 1200, from Old Norse vondr "rod, switch" (cognate with Gothic wandus "rod," Middle Swedish vander), from Proto-Germanic *wend- "to turn," see wind (v.)). The notion is of a bending, flexible stick. Compare cognate Old Norse veggr, Old English wag "wall," Old Saxon, Dutch wand, Old High German want, German Wand "wall," originally "wickerwork for making walls," or "wall made of wattle-work" (an insight into early Germanic domestic architecture). Magic wand is attested from c. 1400 and shows the etymological sense of "suppleness" already had been lost.
Example
- 1. But injecting money into little companies is no magic wand .
- 2. He wished ron would put his wand down .
- 3. Researchers have shown that they can put out a fire by zapping it with electricity -- pointing an electrical wand at a flame and applying a current .
- 4. It also takes information from sensors which measure how the boat is behaving on the water , as well as standard marine instruments , such as a wind wand on the mast that measures wind speed and direction .
- 5. How would she fix it if she had a magic wand ?