one who practices magic, sometimes considered the same as a sorcerer or witch. Conjurers are also sometimes called magicians, reflecting a historical confusion whereby legerdemain was considered to involve the supernatural. The name derives from the magus (q.v.), an ancient Persian priest, and the cognate maghdim, a Chaldean term meaning wisdom and philosophy.

Though magic may theoretically be morally neutral, and many self-styled practitioners have claimed so, magicians have throughout European history usually been feared for their powers of wreaking evil. In some societies, the magician is typically an accepted personage whose help may be sought to accomplish a goal or ward off evil. See magic.